The bravery of a small band of workers who took up arms against poverty wages and dreadful living conditions in a bid to change things for the better has been remembered.
On April 5, Falkirk Provost Billy Buchanan laid flowers to mark the 202nd anniversary of the Battle of Bonnymuir, part of the Radical Uprising of 1820.
An engraved granite stone commissioned by the Provost to mark the bi-centenary of the landmark event was finally installed last year, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to be delayed.
The stone commemorates the battle, which involved a small band of weavers who were part of a movement that aimed to improve the appalling conditions and poverty pay that working people had to endure at that time.
Led by Andrew Hardie and John Baird – who were later hung and beheaded as punishment – they were marching from Condorrat to the Carron Iron Works where they planned to seize a cannon, as part of a bigger plan to take control of the city of Glasgow.
However, betrayed by government spies, they were lured to a confrontation with well-armed, trained soldiers on Bonnymuir, near High Bonnybridge. The working men fought bravely but were soon overwhelmed.
Provost Buchanan is determined that the heroic struggle should not be forgotten.
He said: “The story must be told to ensure that this period of our history will not be forgotten. We will remember those who were executed and those who were transported to Australia and those who rose up against suffering and injustice.”
