The Gorbals Vampire

Edinburgh may be the capital of Scotland, but Glasgow is it's heart. It's the epitome of true Scottish culture, free from torrid tourism and false pretences. It's where real people live. It is a feat of engineering. Proper city blocks, beautiful Victorian architecture surrounding the true grit of the streets below. But this beauty is penetrated by another truly Victorian feature: industry. Industrialism is arguably what made Glasgow.

Above the tall spires and grey tower blocks, smoky clouds fill the perpetually grey sky, bringing with it refreshing, gothic rain. And serving as a consistent reminder of it's nature, the chimneys of industry, plumes billowing forth as if setting the scene for a dark play. What lurks in these Victorian built streets? What could be hiding down the pish scented alleys filled with the smoke of hard work and the seemingly constant puddles? In the 1950s, some children took this backdrop to it's logical conclusion and decided they knew exactly what lurked in the shadows of Glasgow.

In an area nothing short of a slum at the time, the Gorbals, the Southern Necropolis was backlit by the fiery orange and grey smoke of the iron works chimneys, leaving the place billowing with red plumes and casting devilish shadows. It pales in comparison to the Glasgow Necropolis, which sits in a distinguished position atop a hill by the white plumes of the Tennant's brewery, a Scottish staple. But while the Glasgow Necropolis holds distinguished patrons in a hauntingly beautiful location, the Southern Necropolis fittingly was home to a beast of a more Hellish nature.

For those children in the 1950s were insistent that this gothic hellscape was home to a vampire. A beast with iron teeth who was responsible for kidnapping and devouring several children (though those who were eaten were presumably a friend of a friend of your third cousin on your estranged father's side...)

In what was essentially a spur of the moment rumour mill, and several playgrounds were host to a cavalcade of gossip. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact starting point, and exactly where the legend came from. But there was a rallying cry put forth to hunt and kill the beast, and it seemed like every youth from every school in the area was intent on joining the hunting party.

The 1950s were the boom of youth-oriented popular culture. Comic books, horror films, the birth of rock and roll. Everything was loud, angry, and made parents upset. But it riled up the youth. That post-war baby boom had produced a mass media to consume this X-Rated material, and it affected their every day lives in a creative and imaginative way. Specifically, a comic featuring a vampire with iron teeth was most likely the source of the mythical creature of the Gorbals.

Although, there are a myriad other suggestions for what could have spurred this legend on. There is a specific bible verse, Daniel 7:7: "behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth". Though how much these children were influenced by bible verses (depending on how well they listened in church) is debatable.

And local legends, such as Jenny Wi' the Iron Teeth, a terrifying haunt conjured up by parents willing their kids to behave. Or the lights, smells and smoke created by Dixon's Blazes, the iron foundry next to the cemetery, conjuring up ideas of what might lurk beyond the steam. Are those the red lights of fire and machinery, or the eyes of something ready to pounce from the shadows? It's easy to imagine, especially for a child.

And especially for a bored child. And many of those children were bored. No money, no social structures in place for them. They had to make their own entertainment. And this coupled with working class pride and a desire to protect their community most likely gave them the perfect opportunity to lash out against a fictitious creature in place of the larger systems in place to keep them down.

That's what I think the Gorbals Vampire was. The inherent class system of the UK and it's ignorance towards impoverished youth, and their innocent ways of defending themselves against it. An act of rebellion against the drudgery, against the police. A creative outlet for rage, the need for adventure. A way to dream themselves into a more interesting place, and a way for them to defend their home and community.