McIntosh, Dennis (2003) Declining into silence : the language of the workingman. Honours thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

In the battle of Culloden in 1745 most of one generation of my male ancestors were either slain during the battle or beheaded afterwards by the British army. This last stand of the Jacobite uprising, (defending independence against England), failed, ending forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlanders. The Scottish clearances followed, making refugees of the remaining people. The Highlanders along with slaves, serfs and itinerant peasants were herded into the lowlands and collared and forced into the emerging workforce that was fuelling the bourgeoning Industrial Revolution. The industrialisation of work and the rise of the capitalist brought a new class of people into existence: the working class. In 1838, two generations after Culloden, Daniel Mcintosh survived the Chartist dispute in the Scottish mills. Once again the British Army was involved, shooting at the men on the picket line. The solidarity of the men, formed through work, held firm in the face of extreme danger. This thesis is about the descendants from the original working class. It is also about that bond amongst men at work in the bluecollared working class in contemporary society. According to E. P. Thompson in The Making of the English working Class, 250 years ago employers outlined miners as turbulent, passionate and rude. Mike Donaldson in 1991 in, Times of Our lives, says little has changed in employers' views on workingclass men since then.

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