S.W.W.G.L FREE COLLIERS 150th ANNUAL DEMONSTRATION

On the 3rd August 1863 the Sir William Wallace Grand Lodge of Free Colliers was formed. This was the first lodge of Free Colliers but was soon followed by one in Slamannan, the Sir John De Graham Lodge and a third, the King Robert the Bruce Lodge in Bo'ness. Within a few years there were 65 Lodges throughout Scotland. The members of these Lodges were proud to call themselves Free Colliers, the word Free was of great significance. The exploitation of miners, indeed of all workers prior to the trade union movement is generally accepted. It is not so widely known that the miners of Scotland were at one time classed as serfs, that is slaves. This situation had been deliberately brought about by law to ensure that a constant supply of labour for what was an unpopular and brutalising occupation. The colliery owners were usually large landowners who held great sway in political affairs and they used this power to solve their recruitment problems. A variety of Acts towards the end of the 17th century stated that no collier could leave his or indeed his employment without a written letter of permission from the owner of their colliery. Any who disregarded this could be imprisoned as theives on the grounds that they had 'stolen' themselves from their master. Colliers could only change their employment on the 1st of December each year. Most children of a collier were also bound to their parents master for life in exchange for a small payment to the collier. Coal masters were also allowed to apprehend all vagabonds and sturdy beggars to be put to labour. Such a situation had some bizzare results. In 1701, two convicted theives were gifted to the Earl of Tullibardine and Sir John Erskine of Alva, both of whom were mine owners. The convicts had to wear collars of brass and iron. One of these men were later fished out of the Firth of Forth, it was suspected that hehad ended his own life rather than spend the rest of it down a mine. At one time colliers were suspected of trafficking with Satan because of the nature and location of their work and for a while in some areas were not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground. Such attitude tended to isolate mining communities from the local population. It was an appropriate moment to win freedom at last, for Scotland was in the late 1700s celbrating the 500th anniversary of the other great struggle, the Wars of Indipendence, in which William Wallace ha played such a heroic part. The connection was not lost on the colliers of Redding and the surrounding villages. Soon after the anniversary of the Battle of Falkirk fought near their homes in 1298 they began an annual march from colliery to colliery under the banner of their hero to the spot near their villagem the Wallace Stone, where legend said the great man had surveyed the battlefield and where an inscribed stone had lain since time immemorial. Here amid declarations of loyalty to Scotland and to Wallace they reaffirmed their own freedom from serfdom. Such associations or brotherhoods among the miners were not unusual at the time but the annual demonstration and the association with Wallace marked out the Redding colliers from the rest. Attempts by the colliers across the country to organise into trade unions were strenuously opposed by the authorities and the owners and even the repeal of the laws forbidding union activity did not protect workers and their families from the threat of dismissal for taking action or encouraging others to do the same. In 1856 the coal owners combined to reduce the colliers' wages from five to four shillings per day and a widespread strike followed. In the Falkirk area the Redding colliers took the lead and on more than once occasion troops and special constables were sent to the area to disperse marches and demonstrations. Amid great hardship the strike dragged on for twelve weeks before the defeated colliers returned to work for the lower rate. It was obvious that a new defence was needed to mobilise the colliers and reassert their rights and in 1863 the Sir William Wallace Grand Lodge of Free Colliers was set up, soon followed by others. The aim of the colliers was to maintain their living standards by controlling output and manpower. As formal trade union activity as we know it became more effective, so the emphasis in the Free Colliers movement shifted to a more social nature. Today the Sir William Wallace Grand Lodge of Free Colliers is the only Lodge still in existence. We have never forgotten and must never forget the spirit of unity and sense of purpose of our forbears. On the first Saturday in August each year we pay tribute to them by upholding the tradition of our ancestors when we walk, as they did, in procession through the local area when we proclaim ourselves as FREE MEN.