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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Alasdair Clark

Edinburgh most notorious gangs remembered - including Young Niddrie Terror and Bar Ox

When it comes to gangs, you'd be forgiven for thinking first of Glasgow, but recently people have been remembering Edinburgh streets gangs.

Edinburgh has had an at times brutal reputation for street gangs, with territorial battles led by groups, sometimes sporting comical names.

And some of the city's most high-profile criminals graduated from the ranks of the city's street gangs, the most famous being George Buchanan.

A member of Young Niddrie Terror since his teens, he was convicted in 1974 of the attempted murder of a rival and again in 1987 for his involvement in the theft of heroin from the MacFarlan Smith factory in Gorgie.

In 2011, he was jailed for five years after being convicted of running a heroin-dealing operation in Edinburgh.

Other gangs included the infamous BarOx, which guarded its Oxgangs territory from rivals in Niddrie, who were members of Young Niddrie Terror (YNT).

Clerry Jungle dominated in Clermiston, whilst others were members of the Young Gillie Team throughout the 60s and 70s.

Members of Edinburgh Live's history group on Facebook were asked to remember some of the capital's as part of a research project.

George 'Dode' Buchanan who spent his teens in one of the capital's gangs (Daily Record)

Join our nostalgic Facebook group Edinburgh Back In Time for more fascinating facts about Edinburgh's history.

Celia remembered: "YNT - young niddrie terrors. Used to do the pinkie signal to show you were in the gang."

Brenda added: "Remember walls scrawled with "Mental Drylaw", "Fleet Ya Bass", "Tongs", etc., Many others escape my memory just now."

Another added: "I do remember my mum talking about certain people but I would be too scared to mention them on social media I am afraid."

Daily Record Edinburgh PM Front Page 3* East edition 21/09/06 September 2006 SCANDAL OF FIGHT CLUB KIDS- Gangs force children aged 10 to get boozed-up and batter each other EXCLUSIVE Fury over ASBOs threat to toddlers This paper costs just... 15p Hearts injury crisis (Daily Record)

Patrick said: "The boss of the Valdor...was a pal of my brother, we joined him in his search for a guy who owed him money, We searched all the cafes in the Tollcross area and, after a few cafes , could have accumulated a 40 strong mob! We never found the guy!"

The Valdor gang of Tollcross even targetted Sean Connery in the 1950s. Connery gained his reputation as a "hard man" after he stood up to six members of the gang, widely reported as one of the most violent in the city.

He prevented them from stealing his jacket and was to the now demolished Palais de Danse in Fountainbridge, according to a 1992 book Sean Connery: Neither Shaken Nor Stirred .

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Another gang fight in the 40s was so infamous it was remember in a comic because of one officers role breaking up the fight when Edinburgh and Musselburgh gangs met in Wallyford.

Do you have any memories of Edinburgh's gangs? Let us know in the comments.

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