6 October 2009
GAEL FORCE IN GLASGOW
Balaich Nam Putain Buidhe : The Highland Beat Bobby
Thursday 8 October at 9pm on BBC ALBA
Balaich Nam Putain Buidhe is a one hour documentary which spans the decades following World War II and looks at the essence of the Highland beat bobby in Glasgow.
Narrated by Boyd Robertson and drawing on many sources, the programme reveals the influence that the Gaels had on the City of Glasgow police, and more importantly on the Glasgow underworld.
In post-war Glasgow, Highlanders were recruited to swell the city's war-depleted police force and their absorbing accounts of street policing forms the backbone of the documentary.
Balaich nam Putain Buidhe collects the colourful stories of former City of Glasgow policemen, resulting in a riveting account of their adventures on the streets of Glasgow and more difficult stories on the darker, dangerous side of Glasgow policing.
Illustrated with archive footage and specially-shot drama sketches, we come face to face with villains, guns and knives and discover why the Highland beat bobby was so revered.
The respect garnered was a result of their native wit, according to crime writer Robert Jeffrey: "A Highland cop had a sense of balance in a way which you need in street policing. You need not to over-react. You need also not to under-react. I think that they had a native intuition to handle these things correctly."
This native intuition often floated on the disquiet of culture shock following on from rapid transit to an urban community. All of the officers recall re-adjusting to city life. The perils of policing a post industrial city are examined and street policing demanded more than quick thinking as former officer DJ Morrison reveals: “Wherever there was trouble we’d go in. At that time the Cumbies and the Tongs were the gangs. Over time I think they grew to understand that the police was the bigger gang. That put a stop to a lot of them”.
Although danger was prevalent, the communities that they policed held Highland beat officers in high regard and that feeling was mutual with officers like Graham Richardson settling in their adopted city: “In my view the Glasgow people were as good-natured and funny as any you’d meet”.
Over course of an entertaining hour, Balaich nam Putain Buidhe touches on triumph and tragedy and reveals the dark and lighter sides of police work.
Balaich nam Putain Buidhe is broadcast on BBC ALBA at 21.00 on Thursday 8 October, repeated on Monday 12 October at 22.30.