One Week in April: The Scottish Radical Rising of 1820

In April 1820, a series of dramatic events exploded around Glasgow, central Scotland and Ayrshire. Demanding political reform and better living and working conditions, 60,000 weavers and other workers went on strike. Revolution was in the air. It was the culmination of several years of unrest, which had seen huge mass meetings in Glasgow and Paisley. In this text, Maggie Craig sets the rising into the wider social and political context of the time and paints an intense portrait of the people who were caught up in these momentous events.