Jump to content

The sectarian divide in Edinburgh - Ian Rankin


billco98

Recommended Posts

I hate Hibs because they exist.

I Hate Rangers for being Orange arrogant barstewards mingin fans.

I Hate Celtic because of their terrorist supporting mhanky sod cutters.

Couldnae care about the rest, but I hate them just incase.

I support Hearts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 208
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Colonel Kurtz
Sorry TC but that generalisation is almost as bad as Rankin's.

 

When the tenaments were knocked down,the same people moved to schemes in Southern Edinburgh.

The split was about 80% on religion with most of the first generation Irish Rc supporting Celtic,with the Scottish Rc supporting Hibs.

The protestant primaryschool was mostly Hearts,with very few Rangers supporters.

The same split on religous grounds can still be found in older guys in Scheme pubs,although there is a lot of verbals ,I for instance maintain that proddys retain their hair more than catholics,there is no trouble

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Whittaker's Tache

This argument should have as much relevance as which club has the most vegetarian supporters.

 

We're in 2008 ffs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

scott herbertson

I met him at a crime fiction conference in Nottingham back in 1995 (Bouchercon) where I was selling second hand books and he was making his name as an up and coming writer.

 

A bunch of us were drinking in the bar of the hotel until the wee small hours and I had a friendly conversation with him about Uni days (we both did history within a year of each other but found we had no friends in common - funnily enough I used to drink in the Oxford Bar but had stopped by the time he started)

 

Anway we were getting on fine, and getting steadily drunker when I took him mildly to task for portraying fascists recruiting outside tynecastle in one of his books. To cut a long story short

 

a) he wasn't a football fan so his info wasn't first hand

B) he got his information from a mate

c) he claimed that a high proportion of the Hearts fans had loyalist tendencies/ there were a lot of Hearts National Front members

d) he wasn't willing to accept my opinion that it was a small thouigh significant minority

 

 

e) I got hacked off and it descended into a bit of a row on the lines of he trusted his 'source' my than my first hand experience etc etc.

 

So he has a little history here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...When the more right wing, Hun sympathising, Lith hating, Celtic Obsessed, anti PC type describes themselves as a more "traditional" Hearts Supporter they betray their ignorance of the true heritage of the club.

 

So the 'traditionalists' are actually 'new' fans!

 

Maybe if we finish bottom six again this season, they'll drift off and find another club to support and leave the Hearts supporting to the real, traditional Hearts fans. :cheese:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bottom line is for a man who writes about Edinburgh he is actually quite ignorant about much of it's history and traditions. You would think that being a supposedly intelligent individual he would think before speaking. Obviously he doesn't. That being the case he's really shown him self to be a somewhat self absorbed opinionated waste of space. What little respect I had previously for him has now evaporated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

stevieC@pivot
Actually there were several sectarian clubs in Edinburgh: The likes of St Bernards, Thistle and Leith Athletic complied with the sectarian boycott enforced by the Edinburgh FA.

Actually ,no,there was not,it was not the edinburgh fa,but the sfa !

Typically a Hibs fan would at this point excuse Hibernians' Irish only policy as a product of the discrimination that wouild have supposedly made it inpossible for them to join any mainstream clubs. This is plausible though difficult to prove or disprove so you will probably have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Eh, no,to join "Hibernians",you had to be a member of the CYMS!

 

However not only do Hearts actually come out of this whole episode with nonsectarian credentials intact unlike any other team in Scotland they'd actually taken an actively antisectarian position at risk to themselves.

Indeed,you are correct !

When the more right wing, Hun sympathising, Lith hating, Celtic Obsessed, anti PC type describes themselves as a more "traditional" Hearts Supporter they betray their ignorance of the true heritage of the club.

 

Well,you may be right on Hearts,but you are not on Hibs!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

stevieC@pivot
I met him at a crime fiction conference in Nottingham back in 1995 (Bouchercon) where I was selling second hand books and he was making his name as an up and coming writer.

 

A bunch of us were drinking in the bar of the hotel until the wee small hours and I had a friendly conversation with him about Uni days (we both did history within a year of each other but found we had no friends in common - funnily enough I used to drink in the Oxford Bar but had stopped by the time he started)

 

Anway we were getting on fine, and getting steadily drunker when I took him mildly to task for portraying fascists recruiting outside tynecastle in one of his books. To cut a long story short

 

a) he wasn't a football fan so his info wasn't first hand

B) he got his information from a mate

c) he claimed that a high proportion of the Hearts fans had loyalist tendencies/ there were a lot of Hearts National Front members

d) he wasn't willing to accept my opinion that it was a small thouigh significant minority

 

 

e) I got hacked off and it descended into a bit of a row on the lines of he trusted his 'source' my than my first hand experience etc etc.

 

So he has a little history here

 

That about sums him up!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your puting your head in the sand if you think Hearts aren`t predominantly supported by Protestants. Yes, there are many RC`s aswell and i know some lads who are but the reason Hearts are this way is because of the way it all started.

 

I`m not saying some of our founder members weren`t RC, they may well have been, but with the introduction of Hibs into Edinburgh and iniially being looked upon as the outsiders i`m sure many Protestants chose Hearts as their team because of the sectarian problems of that time.

 

Now, i`d say there`s more of a balance amongst the Hibs support because Edinburgh is very much a Church of Scotland dominated city.

 

Hearts have never ever given an indictation that they are swayed either way as a club but are probably more Proddy by default.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your puting your head in the sand if you think Hearts aren`t predominantly supported by Protestants. Yes, there are many RC`s aswell and i know some lads who are but the reason Hearts are this way is because of the way it all started.

 

I`m not saying some of our founder members weren`t RC, they may well have been, but with the introduction of Hibs into Edinburgh and iniially being looked upon as the outsiders i`m sure many Protestants chose Hearts as their team because of the sectarian problems of that time.

 

Now, i`d say there`s more of a balance amongst the Hibs support because Edinburgh is very much a Church of Scotland dominated city.

 

Hearts have never ever given an indictation that they are swayed either way as a club but are probably more Proddy by default.

 

Personally I reckon most Hearts fans, like Edinburgh citizens, are agnostic or atheists. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a Hearts supporter

I am a Loyalist

The two do not automatically go together

 

I am a Hearts fan

I am a mediocre guitar player.

 

I don't flaunt my guitar playing at Tynecastle. :cool_shades:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else hear Fifer, Ian Rankin, broadcast (sad to say I was watching 'The One Show') to the UK at large last night that Hibernian are the 'Catholic' team in Edinburgh and Hearts are the 'Protestant' team. This is the sort of ignorant and simplistic verbal garbage that we could do without. Yes there are many in either support who would say that religion was the prime reason for their allegiance to the club of their choice but the majority do not see it that way. Rankin's 'black and white' (green and orange) statement adds fuel to the sectarian cause which is something both clubs could well do without, aside from giving the wrong impression in other parts of the UK and reinforcing misguided attitudes to the Edinburgh football scene elsewhere in Scotland.

 

I agree with most of your post but have to take you to task over the statement in bold.

I think that there are very few supporters of the Edinburgh clubs who's allegiance is determined by religion. I think you'll find that those small minded numpties tend to hop on a bus to Dirtsville each weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a Hearts supporter

I am a Loyalist

The two do not automatically go together

 

Excuse my ignorance - what is a loyalist?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest i dont know any catholics that support Hearts, not that it matters but i do know catholics that support hobos.

 

The primary school i went to in East Lothian was for any religion but i would say that it was 80% Hearts and rangers with the rest being hobos. The catholic school along the road was as far as i know 100% hobos and septic with most probable being septic.

 

Never heard Rankins remarks but its a bit simplistic to say one team is one thing and the other something else when that is not 100% accurate but having said that if you ask anyone in Scottish football which team is percieved to be protestant or catholic you will get the answer that Rankin appears to have given even if it is not 100% true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Freewheelin' Jambo

I think Ian Rankin is someone who comes from a background, his case, a small two-bit town in Fife, he wants to forget if he can.

 

I think he truly loves Edinburgh, but like a convert, with conviction, not the inherant knowledge of a true belonger.

 

I can understand him here because my mum grew up in Edinburgh as a child and hated it. That's why she and my Dad emigrated so many times.

 

I grew up in Livvy and South Africa and had bad memories of them both. When I came back to Scotland in the late 80's me and my brother got a flat in Edinburgh. We loved it and we loved Edinburgh. We had happy times in Edinburgh as young kids because my parents took us through there to visit relatives, go shopping and go to see Hearts. Edinburgh was an escape.

 

My mum and dad are from Edinburgh but they have no love of the place. I do love it but don't want to live there now. I think Rankin just generalised his facts as he was not a true Edinburgh person to understand the concept of Hearts and Hibs. My mum is a sort of Hibs fan, but really only to upset my dad. Most Hibbies I know are protestant. My best mate for a while was a catholic Hibbie but he had a brother who was a Hearts fan.

 

There is a tendency to denegrate success in Scotland which with my colonial experience I find a bit distasteful. I like Rankin and think his books are great. He has really raised Edinburgh's profile round the world. My Auntie in Queensland Australia is a fan. He has done more for our city than Irvine Welsh ever will.

 

And anyway, if you have read Rebus like I have, you will know that in the books the detective was a HEARTS fan. See the short stories book, ' A Good Hanging'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hibs fans have never been called mini-huns or cousins of William or such like.

 

Has any other Edinburgh football club's fans?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

gee wizz, 3 pages of posts trying to deny both teams background.

who are you all trying to kid?

 

So what is your view on Hearts background then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

scott herbertson
I think Ian Rankin is someone who comes from a background, his case, a small two-bit town in Fife, he wants to forget if he can.

 

I think he truly loves Edinburgh, but like a convert, with conviction, not the inherant knowledge of a true belonger.

 

I can understand him here because my mum grew up in Edinburgh as a child and hated it. That's why she and my Dad emigrated so many times.

 

I grew up in Livvy and South Africa and had bad memories of them both. When I came back to Scotland in the late 80's me and my brother got a flat in Edinburgh. We loved it and we loved Edinburgh. We had happy times in Edinburgh as young kids because my parents took us through there to visit relatives, go shopping and go to see Hearts. Edinburgh was an escape.

 

My mum and dad are from Edinburgh but they have no love of the place. I do love it but don't want to live there now. I think Rankin just generalised his facts as he was not a true Edinburgh person to understand the concept of Hearts and Hibs. My mum is a sort of Hibs fan, but really only to upset my dad. Most Hibbies I know are protestant. My best mate for a while was a catholic Hibbie but he had a brother who was a Hearts fan.

 

There is a tendency to denegrate success in Scotland which with my colonial experience I find a bit distasteful. I like Rankin and think his books are great. He has really raised Edinburgh's profile round the world. My Auntie in Queensland Australia is a fan. He has done more for our city than Irvine Welsh ever will.

 

And anyway, if you have read Rebus like I have, you will know that in the books the detective was a HEARTS fan. See the short stories book, ' A Good Hanging'.

 

Despite how it may appear from my post above, I admire Rankin's writing and think the books are great - my gripe was just witht he way the research had led to what I thought was a misrepresentation of Hearts fans in general.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this_is_my_story
Your puting your head in the sand if you think Hearts aren`t predominantly supported by Protestants. Yes, there are many RC`s aswell and i know some lads who are but the reason Hearts are this way is because of the way it all started.

 

I`m not saying some of our founder members weren`t RC, they may well have been, but with the introduction of Hibs into Edinburgh and iniially being looked upon as the outsiders i`m sure many Protestants chose Hearts as their team because of the sectarian problems of that time.

 

Now, i`d say there`s more of a balance amongst the Hibs support because Edinburgh is very much a Church of Scotland dominated city.

 

Hearts have never ever given an indictation that they are swayed either way as a club but are probably more Proddy by default.

 

How can you honestly say that? Have you done a large scale survey, or what? I honestly think that a large number of (ignorant) people make the wrong assumption that just because you aren't Catholic, you must be a Protestant. They don't realise that you'd have had to be christened as such, to be a Protestant.

 

Your last line though, is a great deal more accurate. What a few people might not know, is that Hibernian are the only Scottish club ever to have adopted an official sectarian policy - that is, that the club would officially state that they would sign only Roamn Catholics. I think that this was abandoned shortly after the turn of the 20th century.

 

So, if Hearts are to be wrongly viewed by any as a 'Proddy' club, it is, as you say, by default, because of the fact that we're Hibs' rivals. Having said that, I suppose that certain songs coming from a minority of Hearts fans do little to detract from the 'Proddy' club image, although that's another matter entirely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this_is_my_story
hibs fans have never been called mini-huns or cousins of William or such like.

 

Has any other Edinburgh football club's fans?

 

Yes, Hearts have. Wrongly, and probably most often by ignorant Hibs fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

same as Rankins

 

So you're both wrong!

 

Any argument can be supported, (but not necessarily proved), by examples, and there will be supporters who align themselves with Hearts for religious reasons, but in terms of the sectarianism which has fans from all over the country, (the world even), supporting one or other of the Old Firm, we are a long way from that sort of bigotry.

 

I do not agree with the senario painted by Rankin that Edinburgh football fans are divided on sectarian lines, and regret that he has chosen to plant that notion in the minds of viewers nationwide.

 

P.S. If my memory serves me well, it was the TV. writers who chose to make Rebus a Hibby. I don't remember if Rankin's books reveal who he supports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Be honest, in a crowd of 17k (ish!) per stadium...Tynecastle and Easter Road...how many actual catholics or protestants do you think there are in each?

 

I used to think religion should have nothing to do with football, but I'm quite sure that many church goers wish football would stop poking their nose into religion and using it for mischief.

 

I despise all religion, I just can't stand the sanctimonious bull**** that comes out of this forum

 

At the end of the day tho Hibs are a catholic Irish club - that there is no denying. That does not mean that they have mass at half time but they do sway to that particular persuasion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How can you honestly say that? Have you done a large scale survey, or what? .

 

No i haven`t T.I.M.S, and i realise we have fans of different religions other than Protestant and RC, but it doesn`t take einstein to work it out.

 

I`m not saying everyone practises their faith, but alot of people are affiliated to some sort of faith(like myself) and Scotland is, shall we say, more Church Of Scotland than anything else when it comes to religion.

 

Most of my friends and their friends (the Hearts supporting ones) are of COS persuasion and i wouldn`t say that is luck or whatever other way you want to describe it.

 

Most Hearts fans i`ve met over the years through playing football, going to the pub, working , going to the games have let it be known through conversation they are of COS persuasion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

P.S. If my memory serves me well, it was the TV. writers who chose to make Rebus a Hibby. I don't remember if Rankin's books reveal who he supports.

 

Rebus is a hibby but it doesn't play a big part in the books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whilst we fly UJ's and sing certain songs we will always be regarded by many as a prodesant team.

 

It's a flag, unless on a ship!

Protestant;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a flag, unless on a ship!

Protestant;)

 

No,a big thank you to my mum and dad for never getting me christened or baptised,Jambos are my religion.Tynie my church

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this_is_my_story
No i haven`t T.I.M.S, and i realise we have fans of different religions other than Protestant and RC, but it doesn`t take einstein to work it out.

 

I`m not saying everyone practises their faith, but alot of people are affiliated to some sort of faith(like myself) and Scotland is, shall we say, more Church Of Scotland than anything else when it comes to religion.

 

Most of my friends and their friends (the Hearts supporting ones) are of COS persuasion and i wouldn`t say that is luck or whatever other way you want to describe it.

 

Most Hearts fans i`ve met over the years through playing football, going to the pub, working , going to the games have let it be known through conversation they are of COS persuasion.

 

Yeah, you're right - it would take someone way smarter than Einstein to ascertain that Hearts are "predominantly supported by Protestants" without some sort of research being undertaken...:rolleyes:

 

Fair enough though, you have your views and I've my own - personally, I'm not religious in any way at all. But I certainly never have, and never will, view Heart of Midlothian as a 'Protestant' club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, you're right - it would take someone way smarter than Einstein to ascertain that Hearts are "predominantly supported by Protestants" without some sort of research being undertaken...:rolleyes:

 

Fair enough though, you have your views and I've my own - personally, I'm not religious in any way at all. But I certainly never have, and never will, view Heart of Midlothian as a 'Protestant' club.

 

You've got it right.

 

I am religious, being an Elder of the Church of Scotland, and I don't, and never will, view Heart of Midlothian as a Protestant club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

winston churchill
No,a big thank you to my mum and dad for never getting me christened or baptised,Jambos are my religion.Tynie my church

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In education, the terminology is "catholic" and "non-denominational" (meaning everything else).

 

I am not a catholic. That does not make me a protestant.

 

I'd say that in today's somewhat secular society that catholics and protestants have more in common with each other than they have with the rest of us. They believe in God, the holy trinity, the bible, miracles, Christ's passion, the resurrection, and they take the label "Christian".

 

At the extreme end of protestantism you have a number of fundamentalists, including those that are anti-catholic (i.e. the orange movement, which seems to be very strict about no-pope, the King James version of the bible, and some other stuff, but a bit lax on the consumption of alcohol, which doesn't quite fit).

 

Given that we now live in 2008, things have changed a lot since the 1870's (though some things have not changed in the last 107 years).

 

Hibs were undoubtedly formed by catholics, but clearly now have a much broader base (mostly drawing their support from among the intelligentsia and other aesthetes).

 

Hearts were formed before Hibs, and I have never seen any evidence that they had any kind of religious heritage (certainly none has been quoted in this discussion). They do, however, have a vocal minority among their support who seem to think that because Hibs are "catholic", Hearts must obviously be an orange/loyalist club in the mould of glasgowrangers.

 

No wonder IR was confused. Hopefully he isn't now. Quite like his books though; he seems an OK person to me even if he knows nothing about Edinburgh football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rebus is a hibby but it doesn't play a big part in the books.

 

 

Well that's guff ...... Rebus on the telly is a Hobo, much to the horror of the

big Jambo that plays him ..............

 

Rebus in the books is a lapsed Hun frae Cardenden.

 

 

 

My Sisters family are Hobos (and yes proddy for what use it is), but then they

never really had a choice their faither (the poor misguided fool) had the bad

luck to be born in Albion Road

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rankin is a third rate novelist (if that) and a first class pratt. Full of his own importance. His fans obviously don't know what a good writer is like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doctor FinnBarr
No,a big thank you to my mum and dad for never getting me christened or baptised,Jambos are my religion.Tynie my church
We done the same with Kay (our daughter), not christened into any religion.

I was christened COS and the wife Sally Army (tho we consider ourselves Pagan now) and Kay attends a RC primary school!

Her religion is defo Jambo, made sure she had the basis of the Hearts song even before she was singing nursery rhymes and she's going to Tynie semi-regular this season. She's being brought up to dislike (hate is a bad word really) other teams, and I think it's true what they say, you'll never change your team!

The point is, she supports Hearts without even knowing what religion they're even meant to be! Might take a long while but hopefully some day every sprog will be the same.

 

:107years:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else hear Fifer, Ian Rankin, broadcast (sad to say I was watching 'The One Show') to the UK at large last night that Hibernian are the 'Catholic' team in Edinburgh and Hearts are the 'Protestant' team.

 

100% accurate. Can't argue with, or criticise, anyone for stating facts. Fact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

100% accurate. Can't argue with, or criticise, anyone for stating facts. Fact.

 

That'll be that then, end of thread. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your wrong

Hibernians were formed exclusively for practicing catholics.

The catholic church was aginst integration of the Irish immigrants as they thought it would dilute their powerbase

 

Correct. This had a polarising effect on teh community with many Edinburgh folk feeling excluded which in turn lead to them following Hearts or I guess other clubs. Over time Hearts have grown where as the other clubs mentioned have not.

 

I've said it on here before, Hearts have never had a policy but it is undeniable that Hibs at one time did.

 

This doesn't substantiate Rankins comments as this was a long time ago but interestingly, it is a view held by many in England where I work most days.

 

I'm often asked the question and have tried to explain it many times. My impression is that many English people simply think that because the Weeg has this issue, it must be the same in every city which has 2 teams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Hearts have. Wrongly, and probably most often by ignorant Hibs fans.

 

..by fans of every club in Scotland

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colonel Kurtz
Rebus is a hibby but it doesn't play a big part in the books.

 

I have aphoto on my phone which blows that out of the water,how do I post it on here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have aphoto on my phone which blows that out of the water,how do I post it on here

 

Not the actor;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colonel Kurtz
The fictional detective, Inspector Rebus is a Hibs fan.

 

No he is not,I have the photo to prove it but not the technical ability to post it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...