An unemployed workers march - 1933

It must have been a sight for sore eyes. Thousands of raggedy-arsed, unemployed, working class men and women marching in military formation down Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile towards the Royal Palace of Holyrood, the symbol of establishment power in Scotland.

Frantic police officers tried to marshal them into Queens Park, the vast parkland at the foot of the Royal Mile that contains Arthurs Seat and Salisbury Crags. “Turn to the right” the helmeted constabulary demanded. “March straight on” the march leaders countermanded. And march straight on they did. Straight through the gates of Holyrood Palace, singing “The Internationale”. The walls of the Palace that resounded to the death cries of Mary Queen of Scots private secretary, David Riccio, were now echoing to the sound of the unemployed and poor of Scotland.

The occasion was the Scottish Hunger March of June 1933. On Friday the 9th of June, unemployed men and women from all over Scotland converged on Edinburgh endeavouring to secure a meeting with Sir Godfrey Collins, the Secretary of State for Scotland, to petition for improved conditions for the mass unemployed. Collins, the MP for Greenock who knew they were coming, stayed put in London.

Harry McShane and John McGovern, 2 of the the march leaders.

The marchers assembled in Costorphine and marched to a rally at the Mound, attended by 20,000 people. While the speeches were taking place, the march leaders negotiated with the police for overnight accommodation. They were offered the stone floors of the Waverley Market. The marchers were refused either blankets or boards to soften the cold stone mattress.

The offer of such poor hospitality was turned down and the marchers headed down Princes Street where they conducted a sit down protest. This had the desired effect on the authorities who quickly secured Oddfellows Hall. The Scottish Socialist Party which owned the nearby Melbourne Hall, turned down a request for its use as overflow accommodation. So much for working class solidarity. The remaining marchers were found beds on the floor of police muster rooms.

The following day the marchers assembled for lunch at Parliament Square. Three camp kitchens, organised by the marchers, prepared a sumptuous banquet of tea, a sausage roll and two slices of bread for each marcher. The marchers dispersed throughout the square and into the entrances to the Signet Library and St Giles Cathedral to dine. A vastly different backdrop to the one that the Edinburgh legal establishment enjoyed as they strolled to work in the courts each day.

A hunger march leaflet

It was after this lunch that the marchers took off down the Royal Mile and into Holyrood Palace. After an assembly in Queens Park, the leaders minds turned again to accommodation for the evening. This time the authorities were not so obliging. No accommodation of any kind could be found. So, the marchers assembled for a march into the commercial heart of Edinburgh; Princes Street.

And once they arrived in Princes Street, they simply sat down and prepared to sleep on the road and the pavement. They were directly opposite the Conservative and Liberal clubs, which must have made the good old boys choke on their Gin and Tonics that evening. And that's where they slept. With blankets as mattresses, newspapers as blankets and earthy good humour for sustenance.

To the citizens of Edinburgh as they made their way to work the next morning, it must have been an interesting spectacle. Hundreds of men washing and shaving in the open air, their mirrors resting on the railings of Princes Street Gardens.

Harry McShane, one of the march leaders, told the Edinburgh Evening News that the marchers had earned a lie-in that morning and they would take their well earned rest where they were, in Princes Street.

This stirred the Edinburgh establishment into action. A deputation from the Chief Constable and town Clerk approached the march leaders. They made the marchers an offer:

	*	That the authorities were prepared to pay a maximum of £30 towards the cost of transport to take the marchers home.
	*	That this offer was conditional on securing a guarantee that there would no more marches to Edinburgh.

It was an offer Harry McShane found easy to refuse.

And finally, some really useful advice from the TUC - a pamphlet for working women and their mothers.

By this time the numbers of the demonstrating marchers had been swollen enormously by the working folk of Edinburgh and mass rallies and demonstrations took place until eleven-o-clock that evening. It was not until the authorities found accommodation for all the marchers that the demonstrations subsided.

The next day, free transport home was provided to every marcher. No guarantee was given about future marchers and one of the most unusual and peaceful mass demonstrations Scotland has witnessed, was over.

Did it achieve anything with regard to major concessions on issues such as Means Testing, Unemployment Benefits and Rent reductions, which were the core demands of the marchers?

The answer in the short term, is no. But as an example of the ability and readiness of Scotland's poorest people to mobilise and take direct action, it was outstanding and the longer term impact of such action cannot be underestimated.