The thought that someone would to want to fight someone purely because they stay in another area of the same city is now thankfully a completely alien and absurd concept to most of today’s generation.

Some say the saying “Ya Bass” comes from the ancient Scottish Gaelic battle cry of “Aigha Bas” meaning battle and die, but it’s far more likely the Calton and Barrowfield meaning was short for something far less subtle. CIRV is a co-ordinated approach by the Strathclyde Police gangs task force, the national Violence Reduction Unit, youth support charities such as Includem, social work, housing and education bodies.I caught this film late night on the Sundance channel. It is extraordinarily well done. It's good to see more and more cinema from the UK showing on cable here in the US. Early scenes serve to establish the family life of the MacLean's. Sometimes these seem rather idealistic, such as family gatherings and sing-songs. The singing seems to be a motif for happier times; it doesn't return until directly after Malky's death in a comical children's sing-a-long at a Saturday matinee. Although family life is not disregarded, never can adults successfully communicate with the youngsters. The attempts by an American uncle to have some influence over the boys is ineffectual, and the mother seems to have little control over them. Also there curiously seems to be no intervention by the police into the gang violence. 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. In the late 70’s and 80’s the word “real” was added to their title after a spate of copycat Tongs springing up in Ibrox and elsewhere in the east end. Read More Related Articles

Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. ( October 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) A man stands next to flowers tied in memory of a man murdered by gang members in the Gorbals in January 2010 (Image: REUTERS/David Moir) 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. The key figure here is the youngest brother Lex played by Iain Robertson. Mildly rebellious at home, his ambition is to join his local gang despite the protestations of both his brothers, one a talented artist played by Joseph McFadden and another who keeps well out of harm's way. The numbers dropped but the Cumbie endured and, then in the late 80s and 90s they became trendsetters, pioneering a new style that defined a generation. Read More Related ArticlesIt was only a Gorbals thing at first. Then you had a few of the Pollok and Castlemilk boys starting to copy us and before ye knew it, it was all over the east end. It was everywhere. Many months ago last year, my wife and I were having a nice, romantic night in - DVD, bottle of wine, an array of takeaway menus etc etc. Gang members are then broken down into categories, producing lists of names which the Gangs Task Force can use to target the worst offenders. San Toy (Protestant), Calton Tongs (Protestant), Tim Malloys (Catholic), Kent Star (Catholic), Calton Entry (Catholic) A new gang with a difference, the Crownie Young Team, have emerged in Calton. Their members come from various areas but are all from the same school, breaking with the age-old tradition of affiliation being dictated by streets.

Characters like the 'Godfather' Arthur Thompson , 'the licensee' Tam McGraw and gangland enforcer turned author Paul Ferris have been glamourised through true crime documentaries, books and feature films. They have to a man become legendary like figures in Glasgow folklore. But the old territorialism was also still rife and new battle lines were soon drawn in the new estates. when McCabe shouted out 'Tongs ya Bass' for the first time. McCabe consequently renamed himself Terror McCabe". [4]The Calton Tongs adopted the title 'Tongs' after some of the local Calton youths attended a movie called 'Terror of the Tongs' in a picture hall near Fielden Street in the East End of Glasgow during the 1960s. The first person to shout 'Tongs ya Bas' was 'Terror McCabe' who had been in attendance at the movie 'Terror of the Tongs , he also adopted the name 'Terror ' from the movie......... During the late 1970s ,early 1980s the prefix 'Real' was added to the 'Calton Tongs' title...as a sort of registered trademark... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongland,_(Gang_Area) The Calton Tongs, who caused mayhem for more than 60 years in the east end of Glasgow, have virtually ceased to exist thanks to Strathclyde's Community Initiative to reduce Violence (CIRV). He said:"We don't really get trouble any more, nothing worth mentioning. The vast majority of people around here are really decent and want a quiet life." No clichés. No insult to your intelligence. Just a story, well told, superbly acted, and superbly shot. This film is a textbook on how to make a good drama. Just one of many superb films from the UK (another recent good one was The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) that we've been deprived of over here until now.

The film is notable in that is the first Hammer horror film to afford Christopher Lee top billing. Lee also reported to work on the film after a vacation in Northern Italy with a deep tan, which was problematic for the make-up department since his character was supposed to have very pale skin. Lee later said in interviews that the make-up to make him appear Chinese in this movie was the most uncomfortable make-up he had had to endure up to that time.Strathclyde Police Gangs Task Force use a method called Recency, Frequency and Gravity, which looks scientifically at how recently gang members offended, how frequently and how serious the offences were. At the centre of the film is the Maclean family - widowed mother with sons Bobby (none too bright), Alan (budding artist in spite of being brought up in the tough end of Govan) and narrator Lex, only 13 and still not sure what life is all about. Iain Robertson's performance as Lex is so good that it is barely credible that he has not reappeared in anything more worthy of his acting talent. Weapons seized from the homes of gang members in The Calton during a police raid in 2008 (Image: Mark Runnacles/Glasgow Live) Christopher Lee as Chung King, Leader of the Red Dragon Tong's Hong Kong division and the primary antagonist.