On April Fools day in 1820, agent provocateurs of the British government instigated an insurrection of Scottish radicals and republicans. The insurrection, even though it was the first in world history backed by a general strike and even though they marched under the banner 'Scotland Free or a Desart', was doomed before it began, since the leaders of the factions involved had all been arrested, in secret, weeks earlier.

The Jail house - Greenock

A week later on 8th April 1820, with insufficient room in Paisley and Glasgow jails for all the captured rebels, a large contingent of militia was sent with five prisoners who were to be housed in Greenock Jail.

Forewarning had been sent to the Greenock magistrate Dennistoun by mail coach, but word leaked out that some martyrs were to be held in Greenock. As a result, by the time the militia arrived, a large crowd of Greenockians had gathered to jeer and insult the militia.

Despite having to force their way through the crowd, the militia managed to deposit their charges in Greenock Jail without mishap. However, on their way back through the town, the crowd hostility had reached a higher level and the insults thrown like 'Traitors!' and 'Sour-milk Jocks!' were accompanied by stones.

The soldiers panicked and in Cathcart Street a volley of shots was fired. Two of the crowd fell, but far from calming them down this only served to redouble their attacks on the militia who now began to fire indiscriminately. Nine citizens of Greenock were killed, including children as young as eight. A dozen more were seriously wounded. The list of casualties included:

However the crowd still refused to be cowed and the militia had to fight a rearguard action to make their way to Cartsdyke. Some of the crowd were for carrying on, armed now largely with fence railings, to assail the militia HQ at Port Glasgow, but were informed that they would only arrive to meet an alerted government force. Instead, they decided to turn back and free the martyrs from Greenock Jail.

Dennistoun had by this time organised his local special police force to mount a defence of the jail, but these were no match for a crowd who had just seen off an armed militia. The crowd smashed in the large wooden doors and freed the five martyrs. The non-political prisoners were left incarcerated.

By this time knowing the modus operandi of the British government, the citizens of Greenock then quickly took to their homes leaving the 7th and 10th Hussars to ride through the town with sabers drawn, only to find deserted streets and end up feeling rather foolish. So many troops were poured into Greenock over the next 24 hours that eventually even the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, Lard Blantyre felt able to attend. But things remained quiet.

A penny pamphlet recounting the execution of Hardie and Baird in Stirling - click on the image for the full pamphlet

While the 'leaders' of the insurrection imprisoned elsewhere were barbarically sentenced to be hung and quartered, in mimicry of Wallace's execution, by a court operating illegally under English law in Scotland, four of the five freed Greenock prisoners were never recaptured.

For posterity, the men executed, the Radical Martyrs, were:

References

"The Scottish Insurrection of 1820" P. B. Ellis and S. Mac a' Ghobhainn.
" Scotland's Story" T. Steel.
"The 1820 Rising - The Radical" War J. Halliday.

Based on an article originally published in The Scottish Writers Site by ‘Scotland the Truth’, for the ‘Cawin Thigither’ group. © 2004