Meeting of the Parliament 05 February 2026 [Draft]
I am delighted to have secured this debate to mark the 900th anniversary of Rutherglen’s being granted royal burgh status by King David I, which gave it special trading rights and underlined its importance in medieval Scotland.
I have the tremendous honour of representing Rutherglen, my home town, where I was brought up, where I brought up my own family and where I still live. I could say a great deal about our town but fear that I will only be able to scratch the surface in the time that is available to me.
Rutherglen is one of those places where, everywhere that you turn, you see something of its fascinating history. My constituency office is situated on Rutherglen’s Main Street. It is a particularly wide street because it was the place to be to trade horses from the 1600s onwards. As time passed, fairs were held there 12 times a year.
A few steps from my office is Rutherglen old parish church, which has been a site of Christian worship for at least 1,400 years and is believed to have been a site of druid worship before that. John Menteith betrayed William Wallace there in 1305, and the Parliament of Scotland also sat there. In its boundary walls is a statue of Dr James Gorman, who treated Ruglonians long before the national health service was established, often for little or no charge, and during some of Lanarkshire’s worst mining disasters.
A few more steps take you to the town hall, which was completed in 1862. Civic leaders decided that a new one was needed after significant population expansion. Near the town hall is the mercat cross, a 100-year-old replica of the original to which the covenanters nailed their 1679 declaration of Rutherglen.
Behind my office runs King Street, where Rutherglen castle sat at the junction with Castle Street. Built in the 13th century, the castle’s 5-feet-thick walls made it a crucial stronghold during the wars of independence, during which it was besieged several times by Robert the Bruce.
I remember our colleague Jamie Hepburn speaking about his home town of Cumbernauld during a members’ business debate and joking about how many towns claim to have links to Mary, Queen of Scots. Not wishing to disappoint in that regard, I can say that Mary led a march to Rutherglen castle in 1568 to round up her supporters before her journey west. A year later, the castle was burned to the ground by the Earl of Moray, to punish the Hamilton family for supporting Mary at the battle of Langside.
I could spend all afternoon talking about Rutherglen’s history—from Gallowflat tumulus, a second century Roman burial site, to the coracles that travelled up and down the Clyde to and from Rutherglen in the 12th century, or the steamships that were built there in the 19th century, or how James Watt designed a bridge for the town before his tinkering with steam engines allowed its steel, chemical and textile industries to flourish.
The historic areas near the centre, such as Bankhead, Burnhill and Gallowflat, have changed hugely over the years and the village of Burnside has expanded greatly. Post-war developments on farms and estates in Blairbeth, Cathkin, Eastfield, Fernhill, Spittal and Springhall are now well-established communities. Each place has its own distinct identity but is firmly and proudly part of Rutherglen’s story.
I also remember Mr Hepburn mentioning the legendary broadcaster Magnus Magnusson. He married the journalist Mamie Baird in Wardlawhill parish church before living in Calderwood Road for many years. After growing up in the town, their daughter Sally became a renowned broadcaster and she set her novel “Music in the Dark” in a Rutherglen tenement.
In a list of notable Ruglonians, I could also include actors Robbie Coltrane, Janet Brown, Scott Kyle and Stan Laurel, the poet Edwin Morgan, fashion designer Jonathan Saunders and musicians such as Midge Ure and Audrey Tait. John Logie Baird lived a few hundred yards from where Cee Cee TV Security Solutions now displays a beautiful vintage television in its shop window. Infamously, he once fused all the lights in the town, which hastened his departure from his job at the local power station.
There is a wheen of sports people from Rutherglen, from Steve Archibald, who went from Fernhill Athletic Football Club to Barcelona, to Sadie Smith, Rutherglen Ladies FC’s captain, who battled against the odds even to play at a time when women’s football was banned in England and was deemed quite unsuitable in Scotland. Again, that could be a very long list. Ruglonians have truly made their mark on the world.
When the 900th anniversary of our town’s burgh status was approaching, a real desire grew to mark the occasion—to take the chance to reflect on who we are, where we have come from and where we are going. Rutherglen 900 was born as a community-led initiative that was built on collaboration between local people, organisations, schools, community groups and volunteers. I thank that large community network, which includes Healthy n Happy Community Development Trust, CamGlen Radio, heritage organisations, schools, artists, sports groups and local residents who are keen to give back to their community.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to thank each and every person who has given up their time to organise the wonderful programme of events that will mark our town’s milestone year. I thank them for all their efforts—not just this year, but every year and, indeed, every day—to support local residents. I urge anyone listening to the debate to visit the Rutherglen 900 website to see the depth and breadth of the programme that they have put together. There truly is something for everyone. Our town will host walking and vintage bus tours that will highlight local landmarks and explore Rutherglen’s radical history of social activism, and there will be a community picnic; a sing-along event; multiple talks and exhibitions; sporting events; a live comedy, dance and music event, including the town’s very first mela; and an inaugural book festival.
There is also a packed schools programme, with events for children and young people in every month this year. It was an absolute treat to hear the debut performance of “Song of Rutherglen” at the Rutherglen 900 launch event in the town hall last Friday, which was beautifully sung by pupils from each local school. If members are in the right place at the right time, they might even bump into Rutherglen 900’s official mascot, Dougie the pigeon, which was designed by Emma from St Anthony’s primary school.
Whether you call it Rutherglen, Ruglen or Ruggie, there is a lot happening in our town this year, as always, and there is much to celebrate about her people and organisations, who make it such a great place to live and work in. I am thoroughly looking forward to all the opportunities that we will have over the next year to celebrate, to reminisce and to look to our town’s future. Rutherglen is ready to welcome all who would like to join us.