Eulogy delivered by Bob Doris MSP on 26 July 2004

I want to welcome everyone to this afternoon’s service to celebrate the life of Hamish MacQueen. It is an absolute privilege to speak at his service today.

Hamish was born in Pollokshields in 1927.

If ever there was someone who could be described as a life-long nationalist and a grassroots giant of Scotland’s Independence Movement, its Hamish Macqueen.

Hamish was conscripted into the army in 1945. He would tell people he drove a tank during that time- which was true. However, Hamish was tasked in 1945, as an 18 year old, with the hugely important and sensitive task of recovering the ID tags from the fallen during the war.

This would allow families to be notified of their loved one’s fate and final resting place.

I am sure there were many families who got some form of comfort, in the most tragic of circumstances, because of the work Hamish carried out all those years ago.

Demobbed in 1947, Hamish promptly joined Glasgow SNP, at their office at 59 Elmbank Street.

In his time in the party, Hamish signed up many recruits to the cause, including - in all likelihood - a good few people gathered here this afternoon.

That was certainly true of Lily Love, who became a firm friend of Hamish, when she joined in 1970.

In the last few years of Hamish’s life Lily has been not only a great friend but a particular support to Hamish, right up until his recent sad passing.

In 1970 they campaigned to ‘vote Grieve for Govan’; in the fight for that famous seat at the Westminster election.

That election did not herald the desired success, but just 3 years later Hamish was ‘all in’ in the by-election campaign which saw Margo MacDonald elected in Govan.

Hamish MacQueen’s dedication to the cause of independence was absolute. His commitment to the restoration of Scottish national sovereignty, unshakable.

Hamish campaigned at about every notable election or by-election, although Hamish cared not one iota for notability. He simply got on with it.

We all have our own special memories of Hamish MacQueen but that dedication and commitment will be something we all witnessed. He could also- at times be quiet and unassuming.

Hamish was a former driving instructor so perhaps those were good qualities for that profession.

Despite being a confirmed Batchelor, Hamish was once engaged to be married, clearly a less unassuming time for him. For whatever reason he ultimately never took the plunge. Perhaps Hamish was always destined to be wed to the cause of Scottish independence.

Of course Hamish could be outgoing when he wanted. Never more so when Winnie Ewing won the Hamilton By-Election in 1967. I am told by Donald Anderson that Hamish’s celebratory highland fling atop one of the highest walls you’ll ever see outside the Hamilton count following the result was a thing of beauty.

Hamish seldomly enbibed, but that night I understand he made an exception.

Many of you will know of Hamish’s role in Radio Free Scotland – established in the 1960’s. A pirate radio station taking the independence movements message out there when the mainstream media did not. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

His home at Hill Street in Gartnethill was an ideal roost for the antenna. When Hill Street was raided by the authorities in 1977, Hamish was both humorous and under-stated- or so the story goes.

Hamish locked himself in the loft as the authorities climbed the stairs, entered the property, and banged on the loft door demanding entry. Hamish’s retort was to calmly ask them to wait a minute.

He proceeded to slowly produce his pipe from his pocket, and as Lily Love used to know him ‘Hamish the match’ lit his pipe. Once he had got the puff going, Hamish unlocked the attic door and let the authorities in, completely unphased. A £50 fine was to follow.

Now I said ‘or so the story goes’ because Hamish Macqueen led such a colourful and eventful life.

His tales or stories never needed to be embellished. But as they were retold, often, they surely altered through time.

It’s a huge compliment to Hamish that his lived reality may have been even more colourful than the myth surrounding him. It has all become the stuff of legend.

When Hamish was in Barlinnie for voter
personation, a story retold beautifully in Mary McCabe’s tribute, the version that reached my ears in the late 1990’s when I moved to Maryhill was that Hamish’s cellmate was inside for steeling slates of a roof and enquired why Hamish was in the Bar-L.

Hamish told his cellmate it was for voting. The guy looked perplexed. Hamish followed up- ‘aye, 6 times’.

Vote early, vote often as Hamish put it.

Hamish did have interests outside politics, and I again refer to Mary McCabe’s blog and her post of a beautiful photo of Hamish on a walk to Ardentinny. He loved hill walking and rambling, as well as visiting Eilean Mòr, a beautiful island bequeathed to the SNP in 1978.
Hamish was also involved with the restoration of the Tall Ship Glenlee which today sits as a museum ship beside the Riverside Museum.

Hamish supported all things Scottish, not least of all Scottish produce. He regularly took a stall at each SNP Conference to promote Scottish produce, up until it simply became too expensive.

Hamish MacQueen was also well known for our Maryhill SNP Race Nights. Wooden horses, fluffy dice, eclectic raffle prizes and of course Highlander crisps and Tunnocks caramel logs.

He was the complete campaigner. He would have no truck with those who didn’t campaign during what he would call peacetime- election or no election; Hamish expected to see the SNP out on the stump, and Hamish led from the front.

Be that election campaigns, Bannockburn rallies, Wallace Day’s at Elderslie, his role in both the 1320 Club and 1820 Society, and, as so I understand it, Hamish led with the occasional bit of direct action.

Sometimes very mild, such as political slogans on pound notes. So I guess we now know the real reason the UK Government axed the pound note.

Other direct action was more visible.

The occasional EIIR post box may have fallen foul to Hamish MacQueen as ‘How can ye hae the Second Liz when the First yin's never been’.

I was also reminded of a story regarding Hamish from Donald Anderson’s Tribute in The National. I had heard of Hamish seeking to glue the locks of the main Post Office in Glasgow City Centre and to fly-post independence material.

I had understood that Strathclyde’s finest had been ignoring the rabble rousers and they had to go and phone the police themselves to get lifted, as without getting lifted there’s no publicity.

What Donald’s tribute highlighted was that the action was in part a protest about the Post Office celebrating the 700th anniversary of the Simon De Montford’s Parliament. Hamish’s starring role was to nail a proclamation of Independence onto the main door of the post office. Quite fitting.

Hamish’s visit to the statue of the Duke of Sutherland near Golspie has also become the stuff of legend.

Many versions of that story exist.

What is clear was there was intent to damage the statue somehow in protest at the central role the Duke had played during the brutality of the highland clearances.

It is also clear that the assault on the statue was aborted. My favourite version as to the reason why, is that a family had arrived nearby and were having a picnic. Not wanting to alarm or disturb them, Hamish and his compatriots packed up and went home.

Hamish had the ability to look smart and dishevelled all at once. He never spent money on himself.

He was generous, often making sizable donations to the SNP.

From time to time Hamish received small inheritances, not spent on himself but on the independence cause.

Lily Love tells me when Hamish went out for walks with her in the months before he passed, he always asked her to ensure he had a pocket full of pound coins. Those coins were to enable Hamish to make a donation to any homeless person he may encounter on his journey.

Hamish MacQueen would be bristling at kind words. He didn’t like the attention, or praise.

So much so that when a young Jamie Hepburn won a Maryhill SNP raffle prize, he was surprised to find he had secured a rather lovely crystal item.

What Jamie had actually won was the SNP’s Presidents Prize that had been awarded to Hamish a few years earlier. Hamish had simply donated it to the raffle. The prize was quickly returned to Hamish.

Up until the last few years Hamish was still incredibly active and fiercely independent. In his last few months he refused a walker to aid his mobility as that was for auld folk.

As Hamish’s mobility deteriorated, the branch would identify some front doors for him to leaflet. Once his leafleting days were finally behind him, I am told he was given the task of passing materials out the car window to other activists.

And when their back was turned; he’d nip out the car and sneak in a few letter boxes.
Hamish was simply irrepressible.

Hamish would fall, bump his head or getting a bad cut from time to time but he always refused assistance until his leaflet run was complete.

I recall taking Hamish to hospital following a bad fall. They let Hamish out, as long as he had someone with him so an overnight billet at my home followed.

I wouldn’t go to bed until I knew Hamish was settled but by the time it got to midnight, Hamish told me to get off to bed. I left him with the remote-control channel surfing.

Hamish wasn’t much for leaflet runs. He’d shout ‘hug the coast’ and charge on with his leafletting. He stood as a paper candidate on several elections and often got better results than others.

I fondly recall his biography within National Conference agendas for the purpose of internal elections. It went something like this.

Demobbed 1947 and joined the SNP. To date have delivered 132,000 leaflets.

The exact same biography would appear every year- only changing the amount of leaflets delivered.

Lily Love tells me that Hamish was planning his next campaign only very recently. He was practicing change a 3 to 4 in roman numerals. This was to apparently alter the new bank notes with King Charles on it to Charles IV- to take account of Bonnie Prince Charlie I am told.

And right to the end, along with Lily Love, Hamish was promoting, selling and posting out copies of the Scots Independent.

Hamish was a one-man paper cutting service and archiver. His collection of leaflets, pamphlets, documents, and photographs were quite something. When he moved from Hill Street many of them were preserved by Maryhill SNP members including Cammy, Andy, and Hamish’s long term friend Bill Mitchell.

When Maryhill and Springburn SNP displayed Hamish’s archive, beautifully curated by local party member Ewen Cameron; it was clear the impact of Hamish MacQueen was felt far and wide.

It has been an absolute honour to lead the tributes to Hamish MacQueen during this service. I will be forever grateful for all Hamish did for me.

His support, I have no doubt, gave me the privilege of serving in the Scottish Parliament. Hamish was determined to have a Maryhill voice there.

Hamish does not belong to Maryhill. He belongs to our independence movement.
Hamish thank you for everything. So many of us thought you would go on forever, as stupid as that sounds. That of course was our hearts doing the thinking, not our heads.

I have no doubt, using both my head and my heart, that your legacy will live on.

Your dedication to Scottish independence, your absolute commitment and quiet leadership, your contribution to so many of us in the SNP and wider independence movement. Campaigning with Hamish was an experience. It was a rite of passage.

Hamish was a giant of the independence movement. A towering influence in the SNP’s grassroots movement over several generations.

We live in times where the word legend is over-used and misunderstood; Hamish was by any measure a legend of our movement.

Thank you for everything Hamish. God bless.