The History of Dumbartonshire, Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Territorial; With Genealogical Notices of the Principal Families in the County - The Whole Ba (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1860 edition. Excerpt: ...pay-nights, about that time, street brawls frequently took place between the parties; and as the police force then consisted of only one individual, the disturbers of the peace generally escaped with impunity. On Saturday, the 20th, these brawls became more serious than they had ever been, and on the following Monday there was a general " rising" on each side. By the exertions of the magistrates and a few active private citizens, a collision between the two bodies was prevented; but it appeared imminent every moment, and for several hours the town may be said to have been entirely at the mercy of an excited rabble. The disturbance was protracted over the greater part of a week, the shipwrights on one occasion threatening to break into the county prison to rescue one. of their comrades; and in the absence of any staff of their own, the magistrates asked for and obtained the assistance of a body of police constables from Glasgow, who remained in the town two days. Taking advantage, no doubt, of the leniency shown to them on the above occasion, the shipwrights made another " rising," even after a moderate police force had been formed in the burgh. This was on the night of Saturday, the 6th September, 1856, when, having forced an entry into the burgh police oflice, they obtained the release of three of their companions, confined there on a charge of assaulting a workman who refused to become connected with their Union. The mob afterwards proceeded to Mr. Alexander Denny's works, where they committed considerable damage, and endeavoured to seize certain non-unionists, who, in self-defence, had been forced to take up their abode in a dwelling-house in front of the yard. The mob did not succeed in their attempt, and...