Gallowglass Read Free Page A

you’ll agree that you’ve been at the centre of some of the more outré events round here. Is that fair?’
    ‘Do I detect a wee hint of accusation, Sandy?’
    ‘Naw, naw. I wouldnae say that. Just that you seem to be singularly good at attracting exotic headlines. Usually violent.’
    ‘You mean the hunt for Nazis in Glasgow?’
    ‘There’s that. Then there’s the number of senior polis you’ve managed to get banged up for corruption. Not to mention the councillors that began dying like flies just as you began delving into their wicked ways.’ Sandy shook his long head. ‘You’re not so much a reporter of news, Brodie. More the instigator.’
    ‘And that’s what the bosses want from me? For this new column? Someone to stir things up?’
    ‘Good God, no. Just report, laddie. Just report. You’ve got a broader world view than some. And then there’s your degree. Other than the fair Elspeth you’re the only man on the staff wi’ one. The bosses like a man of letters. As for your writing…’ He paused, took a pull on his fag. ‘. . . I’ve seen worse.’
    ‘I’ve had more ringing endorsements for my talents, Sandy. But it sounds interesting; it should be fun.’
    ‘Fun? You’ve got the wrong idea, Brodie. This is a serious column. But of course not too serious. And absolutely nae Latin. We don’t want to lose our old readership. Think of it as an everyman guide to foreign parts and foreign doings.’
    ‘No big words.’
    ‘You know fine that good journalism is about simplicity. Just tell the story. Like that fella you rate, Hemingway. Though I’d encourage the odd adjective or two to gie your piece some colour.’
    ‘And what about the crime stories? Are you taking me off those?’
    ‘Not a bit. The management want to give Wullie a few months to see out his time properly. Besides,’ he sighed, ‘there’s enough crime oot there to warrant the attention of the pair of you for a while.’
    I made my way to my desk where I was working up stories that neatly covered both camps. On the larger scene, I was trying to find something exciting to say about America’s Marshall Plan. In terms of newsworthiness, the timing could hardly be bettered. The plan was coming into being on thisvery day, 5 June 1947. But high finance and international economics had little relevance to the average Gazette reader struggling to muster enough ration coupons to feed her family on powdered milk and Spam.
    The details had still to be hammered out with participating nations like Britain, France and Germany but essentially it was an aid programme for the reconstruction of Europe. The idea was George Marshall’s, the US Secretary of State. One of their better generals – and a visionary. It wasn’t altruism. America recognised that her own prosperity and democracy would only thrive if the other Western nations did. Moreover, America wanted a solid bulwark against Communist expansionist plans across Europe. They were even offering aid to the Soviets, but Stalin didn’t want to be in anyone’s pocket. Not if it curtailed his plans to fulfil Churchill’s prophecy of installing an iron curtain across the Continent ‘from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic…’ The endless machinations, double-dealing, back-stabbing and power grabs by the Communists made Glasgow councillors seem like models of fair-mindedness and graciousness.
    More parochially, I had a column half written about the resurgence of gang warfare in Glasgow; the walking wounded were still trickling into the Royal after the Old Firm match on Saturday. But there was nothing new in that. I needed something fresh.
    At lunchtime, I took my paste sandwiches to my favourite bench in George Square to enjoy the sunshine and admire the girls in their summer frocks. It lightened an old man’s heart. But as I sat there, trying hard not to gawp too much, I was treated to one of my favourite acts from Glasgow’s repertoire of street theatre. It was a