John Maclean (Scottish Socialist) - John Maclean in Popular Culture

John Maclean in Popular Culture

In his poem John Maclean (1879-1923) - written by 1934 but only published later in the 1956 edition of Stony Limits and Other Poems - Hugh MacDiarmid railed that "of all Maclean's foes not one was his peer" and described Maclean as "both beautiful and red" in his 1943 poem Krassivy, Krassivy This was likely the inspiration for the title of Krassivy, a 1979 play by Glasgow writer Freddie Anderson. Maclean was eulogised as "the eagle o' the age" and placed in the Scottish pantheon alongside Thomas Muir and William Wallace by Sidney Goodsir Smith in his Ballant O John Maclean. In 1948, MacDiarmid and Smith (among others) gave readings at a "huge mass meeting" at St. Andrew's Hall in Glasgow, organised by the Scottish-USSR Society to mark the 25th Anniversary of his death.

Maclean is the subject of a number of songs. Hamish Henderson makes reference to Maclean in the final verse of his Freedom Come-All-Ye and his John Maclean March was specifically written for the 25th anniversary memorial meeting. John Maclean was known as "The Fighting Dominie" and this forms the chorus of Matt McGinn's song The Ballad of John Maclean. He is also referenced in several of the tracks on the album 'Red Clydeside' by folk musicians Alistair Hulett and Dave Swarbrick.

The Soviet Union (USSR) honoured Maclean with an avenue in central Leningrad - Maklin Prospekt - which ran north from the Fontanka towards the Moika. It has now, like Leningrad/St Petersburg itself, reverted to its original name, Angliisky Prospekt (English Avenue). In 1979, on the centenary of his birth, the USSR issued a 4 kopek commemorative postage stamp depicting Maclean.