Old Photograph Women Washing Clothes Gallowgate Glasgow Scotland

Old photograph of women washing clothes outside the Saracen’s Head Inn in the Gallowgate in Glasgow, Scotland. A worthy town councillor, who was a Gallowgate boy, loved to tell of the Saraeen’s Head Inn in all its glory. On the arrival of the mail by horse and carriage, all the idlers of the city crowded round it, and at the door stood two waiters, who were specially selected for their handsome appearance, with embroidered coats, red plush breeches, and powdered hair, to welcome the passengers to the comforts inside. When the judges, or the sporting Duke of Hamilton, were expected, the waiters got themselves up in a still more ornate style, and even mounted silk stockings; and on these occasions they were looked up to with awe, wonder, and respect, by all the urchins in the area. Here was to be got the only post chaises or gigs which the city could boast of. The departure of a return chaise was a matter of import in those days, and as such publicly announced to the citizens; not by handbills and advertisements, but by sending round the bellman, a public duty which another Glasgow antiquary records as being frequently discharged by Dougal Graham.



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