East End Stories: McGinn of the Calton

I’ve just finished reading a dog-eared library copy of McGinn of the Calton: The Life and Works of Matt McGinn, 1928-1977.  It’s listed as being by Matt McGinn but really a posthumous compilation of his work, including stories, photos and poems as well as the songs he wrote and extracts from his autobiographical work.

As I arrived in Scotland too late to have tuned into McGinn’s work at the time – and being too young to have clocked him on the folk circuit – I found this an interesting and enjoyable introduction to the man, his life and his songs.

You get the feeling he’s telling the stories pretty much as they happened, without editing after the event for effect, or to live up to some kind of romantic ideal of the rebel singer-songwriter.  Many of the stories help to explain the songs – where they came from, how and when he wrote them, what inspired them, or what happened when he sung them.  (As he points out, some of the songs worked fine for some audiences but were too shocking for the time for others.)

And he captures the sights and sounds of the poorest parts of Glasgow in the pre-war period.  The smell of the place is one of the things that struck me the most – something he notices when he’s temporarily evacuated to the rural idyll of Newton Mearns:

The following morning I will remember all the days of my life as the first occasion on which I had ever really tasted sweet dew-stained fresh air mingled with the aromas of grass and trees and flowers.

It contrasted with the Gallowgate’s foul smells from the ham curer’s, the foundry and the railway.  I had been on a day’s trip to Cawder Woods as a boy, and the Glasgow Green was near Ross Street, so I must have smelt fresher smells than those from the LMS or Denny’s before that; but I can still at a moment’s notice conjure up in my mind the sensation of that air of privelege at Sandringham Avenue.

It’s an unsentimental description of a life and a community that he clearly holds dear.  However strong the sense of connection, we shouldn’t forget the billowing, foul-smelling smoke.

Reading the book certainly gave me an appetite to explore more of his work.  There are plenty of samples available on the web.  Here’s his miner’s lullaby: Coorie Doon.

A beautiful, sweet, song.

McGinn of the Calton: The Life and Works of Matt McGinn, 1928-1977 published 1987 by Glasgow District Libraries.

For more on Matt McGinn’s work and life check out this website.

Tagged as: Matt McGinn