Lifting Lines and Laying off: Scottish Bookmaking in the 1950s

By Eilidh McLaughlin

There is a shadowy figure who is being erased from recent Scottish history: the illegal bookie. He was born in the mid-19th Century, during the Victorian drive to regulate the morals of the working classes. Betting on was a popular pursuit with many Scots, but most did not have legal access to place bets as only on-course cash betting at racecourses, or telephone and postal bets were legal. As a result, the bookie flourished in many communities; in the streets, factories, mining villages and tenement closes all over Scotland. He had an army of agents, runners and watchers enabling his trade and he formed a strange relationship with the police.

Under (1853) and the Suppression of Betting Houses Act (1874) it was criminal to use premises for betting purposes, to receive bets on horse races or to advertise betting on said premises or to be a bookmaker. The Prevention of Gaming (Scotland) Act (1869) stated that those caught with 'professional implements' could be imprisoned.

Although illegal, bookmaking was well organised. The man at the top was the bookie and responsible for determining odds, stumping up cash and co-ordinating his army of runners and agents. The bookies also established a number of measures to protect their business. They did not allow multiple bets to be placed at one time. If a substantial bet was placed, the risk would be spread with other, larger bookies. This practice was known as 'laying off' and protected bookies from huge payouts and ultimately going bankrupt. If a bookie did go bust, he had two options; run, or work and pay out his bets over time.

The bookie could be found in large cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. Setting up pitches up tenement closes and makeshift offices near factories and shipyards, he would draw in large numbers of working men. In mining towns like , in Ayrshire, the bookie also plied his trade amongst the miners. Street bookies could also be found in holiday destinations such as , where they became particularly popular during traditional holiday periods. Former police cadet Alan Barlow fondly remembers going out on an errand and startling an old bookie鈥檚 watcher who exclaimed 鈥淟ook out! There鈥檚 a police gazette coming鈥�.

Canny bookies realised that bookmaking in shops would become legal and began to set up their businesses in blank-fronted shops, occasionally bearing the euphemistic insignia 鈥淐ommission Agents鈥� or 鈥淭urf Accountant鈥�. It was not uncommon to see adverts on trams for such businesses or even listings in phonebooks.

In spite of the law, some police officers did not consider this to be a serious crime. Duties such as arresting offenders were carried out, but latterly in a staged manner. Quite often a senior officer would telephone the bookie and alert him that he would be getting a visit. This gave the bookie time to hide their cash and arrange stooges to stand in for himself and, more crucially, his more respectable punter. One retired officer based in the east end of Glasgow remembers a time when a wily inspector double-crossed a bookie. The inspector gave the bookie his advance warning, and simultaneously sent the then young constable, in plain clothes, to place a bet and observe what was done with the cash. The constable watched as a 'wee old man in a corporation uniform' collected the money in his pockets. When the police raided the bookies, they had a habit of sending men in council or railway uniforms back to their work. On this particular occasion, the corporation man joined the throng outside the shop waiting to see the arrest and the young constable yelled 鈥淣ab him!鈥� and the inspector got the loot!

When punters went on holiday, they took their love of betting with them. Alan Barlow remembers a raid on Rothesay on the Isle of Bute where over 100 men were arrested. They were frogmarched to the tiny police office where, as a young cadet, Alan had to call their 鈥榟ome鈥� police offices to ensure the crime was logged.

On , gambling became a legal, regulated, leisure pursuit. It is no mystery what happened. For the bookmaker who was established in shops, it was simply a case of business as usual, but with the added extra of paying taxes. Bookies who were slow to get into shops, acquired them as fast as they could. The bookie did not die, he merely became gentrified. The bookie turned legit. He took much of his former life with him into the respectable high street chains that are turfed all over our Scottish towns and cities.

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