"Hawkie", a song preserved in a scrapbook entitled Old Glasgow Street Songs etc, 1850 which is held at the Mitchell Library.
William Cameron (1787-1851), alias Hawkie, had been crippled in a childhood accident and could walk only with the aid of a crutch. However, he was able to make a living as a street entertainer, chapman and orator. If the words of the song are true, he was a strong supporter of the Whig party and the Chartists' cause, but the sworn enemy of Roman Catholics, priests, and Tories.
The publisher comments that any profits on the sale of the song would be handed over to Hawkie. However, the man described by the journalist Peter Mackenzie as "one of the greatest and wittiest beggars that ever infested the streets of Glasgow" died in the Town's Hospital soon after the song's publication.
Reference: GC 398.5 GLA
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
beggars, chapmen, Chartism, Chartists, disabled, folk songs, Hawkie, Irish, lyrics, Old Glasgow Street Songs etc, 1850, physical disabilities, poetry, sectarianism, street entertainers, street orators, street songs, Whigs
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