Tensions exploded at the monthly Blantyre Parish Council meeting in October 1892 when Mr M. McKendrick challenged the Chairman over an application for the vacant auditorship. McKendrick insisted the Inspector had no right to submit the application because, in his view, there wasn’t even a vacancy in the first place.
What began as a disagreement quickly descended into a heated argument. Voices were raised, tempers flared, and the Chairman warned McKendrick to control himself or face the police being called.
McKendrick, refusing to back down, shot back that the Chairman had no authority to preside over the meeting at all! The room grew even more chaotic as council members exchanged sharp words, and eventually several walked out altogether, leaving McKendrick symbolically taking the Chairman’s chair.
As he did so taking up the chairman’s position, someone in the crowd muttered :
“Aye, aye, that’s the way business is done in Blantyre.”
A dramatic moment in local history — and a reminder that Blantyre meetings have never been dull!
