How to become an honorary Glaswegian
Sometimes, you must spend twenty or twenty-five years living in a place before you can be considered a local, but in Glasgow, there is a quicker way to become a Glaswegian. This shortcut involves the statue of James Oswald, which stands on the northeast corner of George Square.
Oswald was a businessman and a politician in the nineteenth century, an MP for part of Glasgow and a contemporary of Prime Minister Robert Peel, whose statue stands on the opposite corner of the square.
The two men were political opponents, but it is the statue of Oswald, more particularly, the top hat in the statue’s left hand that has earned Oswald a unique place in Glasgow’s history.
Oswald’s statue was erected in Sandyford Place in 1856, three years after his death but was moved to George Square in 1875, when family and friends persuaded the council, that it should be moved to that more prominent location, because the statue of Peel was already there.
Other Glaswegians were not so concerned or impressed with Oswald’s legacy. Local boys would try to throw a stone into the upturned top hat. On a regular basis, council workers had to go up a ladder and empty the contents of Oswald’s hat.
There’s a story that this game became a tradition in Glasgow. If you managed to get a stone into Oswald’s hat, then you could become an honorary Glaswegian. The term ‘weegie’ had not yet been coined.
The origins of this tradition are uncertain, but it may have been invented by Scottish writer and journalist Neil Munro, probably most well-known for the Para Handy stories. Munro was known to express opinions about the statues on George Square and elsewhere in the city, through his column for the Glasgow Evening News. On one occasion, he said ‘statues are like comic songs, they go out of fashion awfully quickly. Nobody looks at them after they’re more than a year in position’. On another occasion, he said ‘The only one in George Square that attracts attention now is Mr Oswald with the top hat. It’s never occurred to anybody to put a lid on the top hat to keep the boys from popping stones in it’.
In 1898, Munro welcomed Polish writer Joseph Conrad, author of ‘Heart of Darkness’ to Glasgow. The two men dined at the home of Dr John McIntyre, a pioneer of X-ray photography, who established the world’s first radiology department at Glasgow University.
Conrad would later write that they ‘foregathered very much indeed’, in other words they socialised and had some drinks. At one point during the evening the two writers had their hands x-rayed.
While they were waiting for the photographs to be developed, Conrad and Gunn took a late-night walk around the city to clear their heads. When they reached Oswald’s statue on George Square, Munro invited Conrad to throw a stone into Oswald’s hat and become an honorary Glaswegian.
After several attempts, the renowned Polish writer succeeded, becoming, at least as far as he and Munro were concerned, an honorary Glaswegian.
We may never know if Munro made up this tradition on that night in 1898 or if it was already established lore. But traditions must start somewhere, so if you’re ever welcoming a non-Glaswegian friend to the city, invite them to throw a stone into Oswald’s hat and they can earn a place in our exalted ranks.
Do it late at night though, when it’s dark and keep one eye out for the constabulary. If you get stopped and questioned, blame it on that small boy who just ran around the corner.