Billy Boys
The Billy Boys is a loyalist song from Glasgow, sung to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia." It originated in the 1930s as the signature song of one of the Glasgow razor gangs led by Billy Fullerton and later reflected the long running sectarian divide in the city. It is associated in particular with Rangers football club.
The song is at the centre of a controversy surrounding "ninety-minute bigots", an expression allegedly coined by former Rangers chairman Sir David Murray: "Ninety-minute Bigots do not hold sectarian beliefs but nonetheless sing songs at football matches which are sectarian, simply to join in with the rest of the crowd." Rangers have adopted several measures to tackle this behaviour, with Murray speaking out against it on many occasions. In June 2006, Rangers were ordered by UEFA to make a public announcement at all home games, prohibiting the singing of the song.
Billy Boys is the title of a book on the history of Orangeism in Scotland.
Famous quotes containing the words billy and/or boys:
““Although I’d lie lapped up in linen
A deal I’d sweat and little earn
If I should live as live the neighbours,”
Cried the beggar, Billy Byrne....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Tell the boys to follow, to be faithful, to take me seriously.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)