The funeral of Jimmy Reid: celebrating a moment as well as a man

 

I attended Jimmy Reid's funeral in Govan spliced between two local men in their early sixties. The man on my right had clearly not heeded the grieving family's light-hearted instruction on the Order of Service that there was to be "no bevvying" during the celebrations of Reid's life. He was a choleric sort, murmering about "Aw they parasites that didnae know Jimmy"  and nursed his wrath through all the tributes, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the speakers were there at the widow's invitation. It struck me as typical of a certain sort you meet - determined to maintain "ownership" of a their moment in time. They would rather it was locked away and forgotten than celebrated and remembered. It turned out that the mean-spirited mourner had not known the deceased very well himself and they had only met on a few occasions. That didn't stop him heading to Haggs Castle afterwards for a sausage roll right enough.  Getting a free feed at a funeral is a great Glasgow tradition....

The mourner on my left was a very different sort of man, and a more typical one, thankfully. He did have a close connection to Jimmy Reid. His father had worked beside Reid in the yards and his older brother had "run aboot" with him when they were kids. The father was long dead and the brother emigrated to Canada, so my neighbour was paying respects for them all. He loved the service and it was hard to imagine who couldn't.

My favourite moment came from the trade unionist Jimmy Cloughley who remembered Reid being approached by a "rather pompous academic" at Glasgow University after he had given his rectorial address. "Which university did you go to?" said the old Don. "Govan Library", Jimmy replied. 

Others, including, Sir Alex Ferguson, filled in more details about Reid the autodidact. He often asked if he had really gone to the same school as his pal Jimmy, such was the gap in their knowledge. At the age of 14, Reid was in the library most days, devouring Shelly, Burns, Scott and Dickens. The book which influenced him most as a teenager was Tom Johnstone's A History of the Working Classes in Scotland. He also loved Hugh Macdiarmid, the nationalist and internationalist poet.

Billy Connolly was superb and not a single sweary word was spoken. He ranged through a series of Glasgow Govan and shipyard anecdotes - from the inanities of time and motion men in the 1960s to his own addiction to welding fumes and asbestos. He asked why orangemen always played the accordion vertically and remembered the reason why mutton pies had a hole in the middle - so the waitress could test the temperature with her pinkie.  Connolly also told a funny and touching story about getting tickets for Jimmy Reid to see Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. Connolly, who claimed to hate jazz and spent hours trying to convert Reid to rock 'n roll, had dutifully used his contacts to obtain four tickets for the sell out show in Kelvin Hall. When he handed them over, Reid gave him two back with the news that he was coming too. "That evening changed my life" said Connolly.  It was interesting that the comedian was the only speaker who had to stop to overcome his emotion. His tribute had been a hilarious romp such as you seldom hear at a funeral. But when he had to speak from the heart about his friend, he choked up. Proof, surely, of comedy being a cover for painful emotions.

It was not just Connolly and Ferguson who made this a great Scottish occasion. It was the speeches of Bob Thomson and Jimmy Cloughey too, and their stories of the Labour movement, how the UCS strike was won and how Jimmy Reid moved politically from the Communist Party, to Labour then the SNP - but really never moved at all. 

When the First Minister Alex Salmond announced that the Scottish government planned to make a copy of Reid's famous rectorial speech available to every Scottish schoolchild, along with video clips and material about the UCS work-in, there was a resounding cheer.  But I have another suggestion.  Today's tributes were an education in themselves, and offered a remarkable window on a life lived well, both in public and private. While not forgetting that this was an occasion when a family said goodbye to a much loved husband, father and grandfather, it was also a rare opportunity to witness the best of Scotland.

 The writer Iain McWhirter, in Paying tribute to Reid, commented that he represented a by-gone era. He said:

"Scotland ceased to be an industrial nation in the 1980s, following two savage recessions which left the industrial communities of West Central Scotland in a state of devastation from which they have yet to recover.   Trades union membership, outside the public sector, declined dramatically as the working class lost faith in industrial and political struggle, and as economic change destroyed the demand for skilled manufacturing workers.   Working class culture became infantilised by consumerism, then addled by cynicism, drink and drug abuse," 

It's the last bit that is most worrying, "Infantilised by consumerism, then addled by cynicism, drink and drugs,"  Yet McWhirter goes on to say that the politics of revolution has been replaced in Scotland by the politics of identity - proven in Reid's joining the SNP and Salmond's presence as the concluding speaker at the funeral. But do our children have such a strong sense of their own Scottish identity as Reid, who regularly quoted Burns and knew his country's history and culture as well as any "pompous academic"?  Much as I welcome the introduction of Reid and UCS into the modern studies strand of the curriculum, we must find strive to find more ways of reclaiming our often complex identities as Scots, and ensuring that future generations are not just familiar with them, but build on them.

For this reason I would hope that the entire funeral be made available to a wider public on CD and online, not just for a day but for time to come. It was a celebration of a moment as well as a man. The great figures who spoke talked of a Scotland that had past, but also showed us how far we had come. It is so important that we keep moving in the right direction. 

Comments

[Eileen Reid]

Dear Joan

Your piece made me very proud, as it would Dad. Thank you.

Eileen Reid (Jimmy's daughter)

[SeanMcP]

Thank you for sharing this Joan. I have to say, if anyone hits the spots that need hitting in Scotland's political culture these days, as Jimmy did so unerringly, it's yourself. As a Depute Headteacher, I couldn't agree more about the need for today's young Scots to be enlightened by Jimmy's unique communication of what matters. Was pleased to start our staff's new session with an iconic photo of Jimmy at UCS and the quote: REAL FULFILMENT FOR ANY PERSON LIES IN SERVICE TO
HIS FELLOW MEN AND WOMEN. Not a bad motif for educators in these times. Thanks again.

[John]

Is the Connolly mentioned Billy Connolly? There's no first name mentioned at the first reference.

[joanmcalpine]

Here is an excellent account from The Herald's Hugh Macdonald a writer for whom I have utmost respect http://www.heraldscotland.com:80/news/home-news/farewell-to-a-scottish-hero-1.1049408

[Alan Clayton]

This piece is Joan at her very best.I used occasionally to say 'hello Jimmy' at SNP conferences and he would say 'hello' back as if you were a lifelong mate. That is just how he was.

[el el]

Difficult when they are brainwashed by TV and media from outwith.

[joanmcalpine]

Thanks Mike in answer to your question no I didn't go to Haggs Castle I thought that was really for friends and family. However I noted the family saying that all members of the public were welcome in the church. It was indeed a privilege to attend and write about

[Mike Ritchie]

Must have been a privilege to attend today.
Your account is first-class, so thanks for sharing some thoughts so speedily.
Have had a copy of Reid's speech (thanks to The Herald under new editor, Jonathan Russell) on my desk all week) and it is quite astonishing.
Did you have a sausage roll, too?

[Stephen Mc.]

Jimmy shook my hand once a few years ago, asked how I was. He seemed a nice bloke. I was impressed by his genuine manner and friendliness.