Onion Johnnies

Download or read book Onion Johnnies written by Ian MacDougall and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2023-06-15 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For almost 150 years until the late twentieth century, French Onion Johnnies (or 'Ingan Johnnies', as they were usually known in Scotland) were a familiar group of seasonal workers in towns and cities throughout Britain. In this book, nine Onion Johnnies (including one 'Jenny') who worked in Scotland at one time or another between the 1920s and the 1970s recount their lives. The recollections, recorded in interviews in Brittany and at Leith in 1999 by the Scottish Working People's History Trust, provide a fascinating insight into the lives and experience of those whose livelihood and way of life have vanished forever. It paints a poignant picture of the past and a way of life about nothing in any detail has ever been published before.