Matt McGinn - Ballad of John MacLean

Tell me whaur ye're gaun, lad,
An who ye're gaun tae meet
A'm headed for the station
That's in Buchanan Street,
A'll join 200,000
That's there tae meet the train
That's bringing back tae Glesca
Our ain dear John MacLean

Dominie,
Dominie
There was nane like John MacLean,
The fightin Dominie

Tell me whaur he's been, lad,
An why has he been there?
They've had him in the prison
For preachin in the Square,
For Johnny held a finger up
Tae aa the ills he saw,
He was right side o the people,
But the wrang side o the law

Johnny was a teacher
In one o Glasgow's schools
The golden law was silence
But Johnny broke the rules,
For a world o social justice
Young Johnny couldnae wait,
He took his chalk an easel
Tae the men at the shipyard gate

The leaders o the nation
Made money hand ower fist
By grindin doun the people
By the fiddle an the twist,
Aided an abetted
By the preacher an the Press
John caad for revolution
An he caad for nothin less

The bosses an the judges
United as one man
For Johnny was a danger
Tae their '14-'18 plan,
They wanted men for slaughter
In the fields o Armentiers,
John caad upon the people
Tae smash the profiteers

They brought him to the courtroom
In Edinburgh toun,
But still he didnae cower,
He firmly held his ground,
An stoutly he defended
His every word an deed,
Five years it was his sentence
In the jail at Peterheid

Seven months he lingered
In prison misery
Till the people rose in fury,
In Glesca an Dundee,
Lloyd George an aa his cronies
Were shaken tae the core,
The prison gates were opened,
An John was free once more
==========================
John MacLean was a Scottish schoolteacher ("Dominie" in Scots) and Marxist educator who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in 1918 for agitating against the carnage of World War 1. Due to popular outrage and demonstrations, he was released after 7 months but the harsh treatment he received in prison seriously damaged his health and he died a few years later.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• matt
• mcginn
• john
• maclean
• schoolteacher
• scottish
• dominie

[wvprogressive1933]

I wouldn't put Galloway and John MacLean in the same sentence, even though I just did. One is a celebrity socialist, and the other was a real one.

[thistlewarrior]

True. But he has said publicly he doesn't want an end to the union. For me union is just a continuation of inequality and poverty in Scotland. Same thing is happening now as happened in McLean's day. Fat cat politicians lining their pockets while working class boys from Scotland are dying in a pointless war.

[3tangle3]

scotland to be a nation once again......just be a caring one ok laddies

[Tando56PerCent]

@thistlewarrior amen mate..

[nacho1560]

This video is real history, not the modern politician's version of it. John McLean should have streets, universities, schools, etc., called after him. Scotland's greatest hero after Wallace, but only by a whisker.

[lgvhnI5s]

THE TRUE SCOTTISH PATRIOT WHO CARED FOR THE POOR AND STARVING WORKING PEOPLE OF GLASGOW. Iain Duncan-Smith cares? DINNAE KID US ON, YA TORY ENGLISH LOVECHILDREN (and that's polite!).

[majorMcpharter]

Let us all help to speed the day when this wonderful earth and its rich resources are held in common for the benfit of all humanity.Workers of all lands unite.

[megiziii]

Forward to WISCONSIN!!!!!

[3tangle3]

@undercoverbrother67 today the loyal labour loyalists I find can be very self loathing and forget about real socialism is and are not using their brains

The religious divisions stoked by london also have not helped

[DG67fg]

@wvprogressive1933 Can i counter that argument (with respect) - any Glasgow socialist who tries to fight the argument now is quickly put down/ ridiculed by the media. Galloway overcomes it by courting it unsuccessfully, Sheridan fights it legally , unsuccessfully. Point being, the best socialist speakers in Scotland have NOT been allowed to speak to and inflame the public again. The internet might see a change in situation now though. But Galloway and Sheridan did not have the internet.

[immobobby]

@nacho1560 Changed? But in what way? In some call centres the workers - sorry: "call centre agents" - have to raise their hands if they want to go to the toilet.