Words by John Thomson
A Maryhill Dinner, 1908
When we think of eating out in Maryhill these days we may associate it with exquisite chips and colourful curries, but once upon a time when you wanted an all male dinner to celebrate something big, then there was only one place to go – the big hall of Maryhill Burgh Halls, or its predecessor.
And, yes, in those days these dinners were ‘all male’ and relatively formal, but they are part of the history of the Halls so let’s take a culinary journey back in time.
Let’s begin with 25th January, 1858 - ‘a notable evening in Maryhill… when a large number of inhabitants met in the newly erected Burgh Hall, Main Street….to partake of cake and wine’ – and the reason for the celebration? It was the marriage of the Princess Royal of Great Britain to Prince Frederick of Prussia, eldest son of the Crown Prince William. There’s not much in the newspapers of the time about the official celebration but that may be because no-one checked when the public houses closed that night. After all, it was an area where often, on a Saturday night, a ruction would be got up ‘when a few of the bhoys got some shebeen whiskey’ and I’m sure that would have been well shared.
The following year was much different in terms of celebrations. It wasn’t a royal occasion but it was the centenary of the birth of ‘our national poet, Robert Burns and the Hall was decked out with flags, evergreens, &c. and about 100 gentlemen sat down to dinner’.
‘This 25th of January was always reckoned and spoken of as the great red letter day in the Burgh and the few still surviving (1894) who were present at the banquet that evening look back with pleasing memories of the bright and happy social meeting.’
There’s little written about what was eaten and a menu of one of the dinners would be good but special occasions in those days deserved special foods and amongst the most popular were the likes of mulligatawny soup followed by saddle of mutton (where the saddle was hung for ten days covered all over in flour, suspended over a hot fire and served very hot with red currant jelly).
For pudding? How about a ‘conservative pudding’ which was a steamed pudding made with sponge cake, ratafias, macaroons, rum, cream, preserved cherries and served with a simple syrup flavoured with laurel leaf and almond. (gailcarriger.com)
But the good burghers did not always meet to celebrate prominent anniversaries and major events. There was a wide range of institutions and societies in the area, including The Kelvindock Curling Club, whose annual dinners included ‘corned beef and greens, with a goodly number of etceteras. Then followed plenty of ‘reekin’ toddy, songs, toasts and stories’ and the festive band ‘toddled hame between the key-stone o’ night and the wee short hour, unco’ happy.’
One other prominent society of the time was the Agricultural Society which organised an annual cattle and horse show. It was held in a small field adjoining Bonville House and the road leading to Dawsholm Paper Works. However, it later ceased to exist but it does offer a different feel to the Maryhill of tenements, workshops and hostelries that we often associate with that period.
Now, the photograph that accompanies this feature is taken from the Halls’ archives but all it offers in terms of a date is just 1908. However, when, earlier on, I spoke of ‘all male’, this is what I meant. Look at the moustaches; look at how they’re all dressed; and look at how well they fill the hall.
However, there was a dinner that took place in November 1909 that was covered in the Glasgow Herald and which gives an idea of the serious topics that could be covered at these dinners. This was ‘the eighth annual dinner of the Old Maryhill Neighbourly Society’ and ‘despite the unfavourable nature of the weather’ nearly 200 people attended. The dinner was presided over by Sir Archibald S.L. Campbell of Succoth with Cllr Walter Nelson as croupier. Now the job of croupier at a public dinner was nothing to do with roulette and blackjack but was to assist the chairman (as it would have been in those days) with running the dinner.
Amongst the guests were Lord Provost McInnes Shaw and Colonel William Lamont whose job it was to acknowledge the toast to the ‘Imperial Forces’ when it was given. It was all very formal but three things leap out from reading the article which are of interest to us today.
One, according to the Lord Provost, was the improvement to the district of Maryhill since the amalgamation with Glasgow had taken place. The second, interesting in these environmentally friendly days, was concern about purification of the air, particularly in Lambhill, where there were ‘large chimneys belching forth smoke’ but Glasgow had no control over these and wouldn’t until there was an amalgamation (Applause),’ The final suggestion was that Glasgow should ‘purchase the harbour tunnel in order to give Govan more direct communication with the city (Applause)’. Still no word of what they ate but ‘other toasts were submitted during the evening.’ It sounds like it might have been a long night.
And then the final dinner in this random selection took place immediately after ‘the war to end all wars had ended’ (WWI) - except more wars were to follow - but this would explain the importance of the first toast to ‘The Imperial Forces’, as had been offered in 1909 when the nation was still recovering from the Boer Wars but with WWI on the horizon, and the ‘toast was enthusiastically pledged, the company joining heartily in the singing of Rule Britannia.’ Mr James Menzies then contributed with a comic song and the evening moved on.
There were a few other toasts including ‘Success to Maryhill’ which began by recognising the importance of the Gairbraid Estate and the Hill family, moved on through recollections of the celebration of the wedding of the, then, Prince of Wales in 1863 which saw ‘illumination and fireworks’ and ‘the front of the old Burgh Buildings was beautifully decorated and in the centre was the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales all lit up with gas.’
But, as well as all these toasts, the evening – and it seems a long one – had various interludes when people like Mr P. A. Menzies and Parish Councillor A.M. Horne both contributed songs and. at one point, Mr D. M. Alexander ‘told a story that created heavy laughter’ but there is no more information on what was involved in that entertainment.
However, before I finish as I’m beginning to get a wee bit hungry with all this talk of dinners, one of the other things that caught my eye was discussion as to whether the Tramway Committee should run cars down to the shores of Loch Long, and probably erect a bridge to link up Ardgoil with the city!
Why was this even a topic for discussion? Well, it had ‘practically been settled that a new road or boulevard (was) to be formed from Anniesland to Bowling’ but there was also recognition of the need for social reform ‘which embraces the housing problem and cross-river communication.’.
So, four dinners, all of which took place within the Maryhill Burgh Halls (or its predecessor) and, within all the wining and dining, there was still time to consider the needs of the community and after dinner conversations which still have an effect on us today – over one hundred years later.
I’d like to thank Maryhill Burgh Halls archives for their help with this article and Random Notes and Rambling Recollections of Drydock, the Dock or Kelvindock. All Now Known by the Modern Name of Maryhill. 1750-1894 by Alexander Thomson which is available online.