Tongs Ya Bas: The Explosive History of Glasgow's Street Gangs

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The scores for the members linked to the Calton Tongs dropped off. Their scoring now pales into insignificance compared to three years have been practically wiped our radar." Sorry, bit of a weird thread... and I'm probably at risk of losing many 'man points' here but here goes Razor Gangs Ruled the Streets But Even In the Violence of Pre-war Years One Man Stood Out". 19 October 2007. I think I'm reasonably well qualified to write about the accuracy and veracity of this 1996 film based on the Glasgow gang wars of the mid-60's. I was born and raised in the East End of Glasgow although I was a little too young to be affected by any of the gangland issues of the times. Our family lived out in the suburbs where the Council liked to dump the less well-off in a neighbourhood or scheme as we called it, named Provanhall in the district of Easterhouse. I do remember seeing the graffiti of the different gangs sprayed on the walls and also the big amnesty spearheaded by popular singer Frankie Vaughan where all the gang-members were invited to lay down their weapons. But tensions were starting to rise. A few shouts rang out, food was thrown and then, at the end of the film, the Calton gang leader McCabe, who would go on to become known as Terror McCabe, stood up and shouted the immortal lines “TONGS YA BASS” at the top his lungs before leading a charge towards the outnumbered Spurs. Read More Related Articles

Gang members are then broken down into categories, producing lists of names which the Gangs Task Force can use to target the worst offenders. TONGSYABAS, n. Glasgow gang slogan. em.Sc.(a) 1991 Kate Armstrong in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 111: Ming is later the victim of a ceremonial killing. In this type of assassinations, the killer murders their victim with a ceremonial axe and gauntlet in a crowded place, thus keeping the population scared of the Red Dragon Tong. Before dying, Ming kills his assassin. After searching Ming's body, the Tong do not find any incriminating note that could hurt their cause. To be sure, they decide to kill anyone who could have received that kind of information from Ming. Looking for the note, they search Sale's house, kill Helena, and eventually, also the servant. After learning of his daughter's death, Sale vows revenge.The application of the phrase caused some dispute at first. Nobody doubted ya bass meant you bastard. But the grammarians who discussed it were undecided about its vocative or apostrophic use. Some said cogs ya bass meant O Cogs! You are bastards! Others said it meant we are the Cogs, o you bastards! Gsw. 1979 Maurice Lindsay Collected Poems 77: Infamous gangland figure Walter Norval spent seven years in jail between 1960 and 1967 and on his release said the first thing he noticed was how the streets had been transformed. Gangs of hooligans who had previously been looking for their next fight were now looking for their next profit. Early in 2011 Strathclyde Police announced the demise of one of the city’s most infamous and biggest gangs The Calton Tongs. The gang, known for their “Tongs ya bass” chants, who had been roaming the streets of Calton in one form of another since the 1920’s had now, according to the Police, finally been defeated.

She then started commenting that my eyelashes "would look great with mascara on them" and asked me if she could put make-up on me. Given that the wine was flowing and we were alone I obliged. I looked like a drag queen but she found this hilarious.They soon became one of the most infamous and feared gangs in the city with long running rivalries and bloody city centre battles with gangs like The Gorbals Cumbie and others. If former members of the IRA can sit in parliament, why can't members of the Calton Tongs be in the Calton swimming club, football club or whatever, instead? There is nothing here - schools have closed, churches have closed. Alternatives for these kids is the only option."

Christopher Lee as Chung King, Leader of the Red Dragon Tong's Hong Kong division and the primary antagonist. So the food came, pizza/money was exchanged then I saw him looking down at my glittery red toenails, (which I had somehow completely forgotten about) and smirking away to himself. God knows what he thought was going on in our flat. I did see the funny side of it though - as did the wife, obviously Doctors, nurses, dentists, even vets were all enlisted to look out for the signs of violence and domestic abuse, and to counsel the young men who were arriving at every hour of the day with fresh knife wounds.Former Simpsons scriptwriter David X Cohen is working on an adaptation of two books by Scots author Colin MacFarlane, The Real Gorbals Story and No Mean Glasgow.

The vampire was never found. The mini-vigilantes had scared him off, or at least that's how it was reported in The Sunday Mail newspaper. But thankfully it seems that it is, along with sectarianism, is one unsavoury aspect of Glasgow’s culture that the younger generations are rejecting. In the 30’s the name had evolved to San Toi with another Calton razor gang The Calton Entry also appearing on the scene. He said: "My wife's brother had to tell the local gang here that I needed a free pass because I was marrying into the family. If you see this in the TV listings, local videoshop, wherever, Get It! You will not find a more accurate movie that conveys the state of Glaswegian upbringing as it was and still is today. The violence, the course language and the way the young 'gangs' live and breathe on machismo and fights. The film shows an artist boy who is somewhat out of place in the world he finds himself living in. With his rather maniacal brother Bobby who just loves to go and fight the 'TONGS'. There is a younger brother in this family who becomes more of a central character as the film progresses. I don't want to give the story away so I will just say, if you want a true drama with no frills, fluff or effects, violence shown as it is, brutal and frightening (although I dont mean to put you off as it is highly watchable and not TOO brutal) -the utter desperation that some people live in and not only when this film is set in but today too. I know, I have lived in a similiar world. Nothing has really changed. If you want to find out just what this is like..GET THIS MOVIE! If you are from Glasgow or most places in central scotland - GET THIS MOVIE! Thats all :)That was 60 years ago so there have always been gangs, always will be - but now it's daft boys. Then it was bicycle chains and razors. It's settled down a lot but there is still trouble now and again." Gary Barton, 46, a local activist who ran for the council, believes in giving young people something to do to stop them wanting to fight. Mohammed Saddiq, 39, who owns newsagent in Calton believes that the area has improved dramatically years he has been there. "The previous owner told had experienced a lot of problems but it's quiet now. The Protestant Billy Boys and the Catholic Norman Conks from Bridgeton in the 1920s/30s were not the first sectarian gangs in the East End. The Protestant San Toy or San Toi and the Catholic Tim Malloys or Tim Molloys were rival sectarian gangs from Calton before the 1st World War. I have compiled a list of former sectarian gangs from the Calton/Bridgeton area. I am sure there were others. He starts investigating the Tong on his own, despite the police's warnings. Because of this investigation, he gets into a fight with a Tong member. Sale is about to be killed when Lee, the criminal's wife saves him. Lee was forced to marry the man and, hating him, decides to aid in his demise before another innocent person is killed. Realizing the woman is in danger for defying the will of the Tong, Sale tells her to stay at his place.