Play for Today (1970–1984): Season 5, Episode 4 - The Bevellers - full transcript

[cheerful music]

[chattering]

Here's the new boy, Bob.

Smart boy, he looks.

Name's Beaton, is that
right, lad, Norman Beaton?

That's right, Mr. Skinner.

This is Mr. Darnley, the foreman.

-Boys call you Norrie?
-Aye.

Well, I suppose that's what
they'll call you in here.

Show him the job, Bob,

I'll ring down for you in a wee while.



Couple of items I want to show you.

Stick in boy, you'll do fine.

Good effort today, the rest of you lads.

Well, seeing it's Monday morning, eh?

I'll ring down for you, Bob.

I'll be up and down these
stairs like a bloody yo-yo,

I can feel it in my water.

Well, young Norrie, do
you know what beveling is?

No.

It's all over the bloody place,

but not one in a million
would recognise it.

You no guess?

It's to do with glass, isn't it?

-Oh.
-[laughing]



Got a boy with his eyes open, eh?

Goes into a shop with the
stuff stacked on its edges

and says it's to do with glass.

Come here, son.

I show you this.

Hey, watch out, young 'un.

He might show you the glass
version of the golden rivet.

Ah, hold your tongue, Rouger.

Now, Norrie, you see
that kind of border bit

round the glass there?

Well, that is a bevel.

And is that what I'll be learning?

The beveling?

Not right away, no.

No, you start at the feeding up first.

Take off your jacket.

-Hey, Joe.
-Aye?

This is Norrie Beaton,
he's got the feeding up.

Get him in, eh?

Crosby's the second name.

How are you?

I'm better now I'm off the feeding up.

Don't give the boy a bad impression,

feeding up's not a bad job.

It's an easy job,

one you must learn before
you start beveling.

Ah, whatever you say yourself.

Ah, we'll show him how to mix the pumice,

not too thick, not too thin.

Then show him how to make the brush.

Aye, okay.

Over to the bench here.

Hey, what did you say this boy's name was?

Beaton, Norman Beaton.

Hey, it's a kinda film
star's name that, isn't it?

-[laughing]
-Ah,

it's a teuchter name, I would say.

Is that right, eh?

It's a teuchter name yours, isn't it?

What?

A teuchter.

Teuchter, do you not
know what a teuchter is?

No.

This is a very dim youth.

Well, you'll learn something
here, I'll tell you.

Hear that, Charlie?

He's never heard of a teuchter.

Innocent, eh?

[Rouger] Doe-eyed.

He'll soon loss it.

Clear and press, 180.

Tickle, tickle.

What have I told you
about that before, Rouger?

One of these times, I'll
hoist you by the bollocks

and chip you over the mill.

Easy, easy, it's just a bit of fun.

Maybe it's a small tournament
you'd like then, eh?

Just you and me, there's
the bar on the floor there,

£120 right up, eh?

Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.

That's your game, the lifter, isn't it?

You're on a cert.

Now, you come out the road
with me on a bike sometime,

and I'll show you a fast wheel.

I'll leave you gasping in the highway.

Nevermind the cycle talk,

there's the bar, 10 snatches.

-What do you say?
-Oh, snatch your drawers.

Come on, you're like a couple
of wains, the pair of you.

Good effort now the day, as Leslie says.

Too much shagging the dog in here lately.

Don't let the Rouger upset you, son.

He might try something on with you,

but don't be frightened,
he's full of crap, him.

Just tell him to come and
see me at the mill there.

I'll put a half-inch bevel
in his tail for him. [laughs]

Mind now.

Is it always like this?

It's worse sometimes.

Bevelers are all mad, you know.

See Peter there?

Couldn't blow a feather off his
nose without taking a riger.

A what?

A fit.

Takes fits, you know.

He works with glass and he takes fits?

You wouldn't let him carry on.

No choice, can't get
men like him nowadays.

-Is he good?
-The best.

There you are, feel
that, that's about right.

Okay?

Right, the brush.

A handful of straw here and some string.

It's easy.

Hey, that's a funny name
that, Rouger, isn't it?

[chuckles] It's not his name.

His right name's Dan Matchett.

We call him Rouger 'cause
he works with the rouge.

See, Peter puts the bevel
on at the mill there,

grinds it on with a hard
wheel with carborundum.

Then he puts it on the sander,

well, that's the slightly softer wheel.

After that comes the polishing,

well, that's Bob's job here.

Then it goes to the rouging,
that puts a gloss on it.

[machines roaring]

That's a hell of a noise.

Ah, you'll get used to it.

[Bob] All ready there, Joe?

Oh, just a couple of shakes, Bob.

Is that a real weightlifting
thing over there?

Oh, aye, that's Charlie's.

Practises with it at dinnertime sometimes.

He put the breeze up the
big fella, didn't he?

Aye, he doesn't like folk taking him down.

Winches this dame that works

up next door in the printing works,

bit touchy about that, eh?

-That's it, Bob.
-All right, son.

Get the brush and the pumice,

feed it up in the top
when I'm using the surface

and feed it in the grooves
when I'm doing the edges.

Try some, lad, be easy.

[yells] No, no, Norrie! [laughs]

Not so hard and not so much pumice.

I've got to be able to
see to do this job, eh?

All right, try it again.

Easy.

Ah, that's better, that's better.

Just put some on when
you think it needs it.

This my job, then?

Just sitting here dabbing a brush?

Refer to it as feeding up from now on.

Like everything else, you've
got to start at the beginning.

It's amazing how much you pick up

when you think you're idling.

I was feeding up when I was 14.

Sometimes I think I
haven't learnt it all yet.

This is a craft, you know,
not just a common trade.

One of the few, one of the oldest.

-This your first job?
-Aye.

Be able to bring your
mother a couple of pound

at the end of the week now, eh?

No.

[Bob] What, you gonna
keep it all to yourself?

No, I didn't mean that.

My mother's dead.

She died when I was 14, two years ago.

Is that a fact?

-Father still living?
-Oh, aye.

There's my dad, my sister and me.

And your sister looks after you, like, eh?

Aye, she's got a job as well.

Aye, you'll be quite a
well-doing wee family then, eh?

Yeah, not bad.

What does your father do?

Docker.

Ah, good job, good job.

She'd have been quite young,
your mother, when she died, eh?

44, I think.

[Bob] Ah, that's young, that's young.

Must've been sudden.

Aye, it was during the
school holidays, it was.

I wakened up one morning,

there was this noise in the kitchen.

A lot of voices.

I went through, but
they wouldn't let me in.

Just saw her lying in a
chair and that was that.

[Bob] Didn't mean to make you greet, now.

No, I'm not greeting.

It's a long time, two years.

Ah, a long time for a boy
to be without his old lady.

Hey, you hear that, you fellas?

Young lad here's been telling
me about his old wife dying

and he's not greeting.

Not much wrong with a
boy than can do that, eh?

What's that?

Who's dying?

Who's dead?

[Bob] Norrie's old lady,

he was just at school at the time.

Jeez, eh?

Hey, what was the matter with her?

Heart attack.

Eh, tough luck.

Hey, Bob, there a wee bit
of fire on this side here.

Oh, aye.

I'll give it a touch.

Right, Norrie.

Just you give that brush

the least wee sensation
on the wheel there.

Is that the only time
your mother was ever sick?

No, she was sick once before,

couple of years before she died.

[Rouger] Hospital, was she?

No, no.

[Rouger] Couldn't have been
too bad, then, was she?

No, she was bad.

It was in the middle of the night

and she suddenly got these terrible pains.

She was moaning, nearly screaming.

And I had to go to the police station

for them to call a doctor.

What time of night was that then, eh?

[Norrie] Half past two, three o'clock.

Was she all right after that?

Aye, a while after the doctor came.

[Rouger] But did you see her?

You're hell of a nosy.

What do you want to know for?

Nothing, just asking.

Hey, you must only have been
about 11 years old then.

Not much wrong with a boy that will

go for a doctor for his old lady

at half past three in the morning,

him only 11 year old, eh?

Your big sister not go with you?

She was bubbling, she couldn't go.

You got a sister?

Hey, tell her I'll take
her out some night.

Aye, likely.

Is that your bike over there?

Yes.

Nice machine, isn't it?

It's all right.

Like to get your leg over it?

-I wouldn't mind.
-Leg over your sister?

She wouldn't pee on you
if you were on fire.

[Rouger laughs]

Now, I'll remember that.

Right, that should do it.

Just blend it in nice and
easy, that should be all right.

[bell rings]

Ah, that's him started, Norrie.

You ever see one of them
monkeys with a string, eh?

That's what he thinks I am.

Got to take the apron off
every time you up the stair,

case there's some conshiterified
bloody eejit in the office.

Hey, Norrie, son, is that your name?

Aye, come here, I want you.

See this brush?

Put it over your right shoulder,

that hand under there
and that one down there.

There's a good boy.

Just you stand like that for a wee while,

and if you feel like it,

have a wee about turn every so often.

But if anybody comes, shout
"beware the amber bead!"

The hell are you doing standing
there, you bloody eejit?

[laughing]

Put that thing down.

Come over here 'til I show you something.

Something that came out the ark.

And as for you, Peter Laidlaw,
you should have more sense.

Hope a bloody crocodile gets you.

-[laughing]
-I'm sorry, Bob.

Don't be sorry, be sensible.

Hey, Joe, come here.

I want you to show young fella here

how to dismantle this old mirror.

Now, go easy with it.

Anything happens to it,
Leslie will bastricate you.

How, is it worth something?

To you and me, it
wouldn't be worth a pump,

but to the old cow that brought it in,

it's the light of the world.

Anyhow, she wants it
touched up and re-silvered.

[Peter] Sure it's not her that

wants touched up and re-silvered?

[laughing]

I'll feed up 'til the boy's ready.

[Norrie] Do you think it's very old?

Well, it'll be older than
you and me put together,

I'll tell you that.

Might even be an antique, eh?

Here, Bob, that's it.

[Bob] Aye, just hold onto
it, finish your side.

Hey, Joe, look at this old
paper that came out the back.

The Evening Times, October 14th, 1921.

[Joe] Bit chipped in the side here, Bob.

[Bob] Yeah.

Peter, come here.

You too, Rouger.

Fordyce's Annual Sale.

Women's stockings, one
and sixpence a dozen.

Hey, Rouger, look at this old paper

that came out the back of the mirror.

It's ancient history!

It's junk.

Easy, I want to read that paper.

Think it would stand the least wee touch

of the grinder, Peter, eh?

No, never, it would shatter instantly.

Ah, wee rub of the blocking stone, then?

Ah, well, now, that might do it.

But we'll have to go dead
easy with it, all the same.

We'll all have to go very careful with it.

Hear that, Rouger?

Hear that, Charlie?

[metallic clanging]

Ah, in the name of the lantern!

Have you no sense?

Here I am telling everybody
to keep their head

with this old merchandise,

and you're flinging tonne
weights all over the place!

It's blohoorable, so it is!

Diabastric and blohoorable!

Must keep the strength up, Bob.

How much strength does it take

to lift three feet of quarter-inch plate?

All this strength of yours,
what you gonna do with it?

[Charlie] Use it when the time comes.

What, like half past 10 at night

when you're lumbering
Nancy up the high road, eh?

[Rouger laughs]

You don't need to blush, Charlie.

We all know you're a bit short of strength

in the right place.

Not at all!

I've got it when the time comes.

Aye, you've got it all right,

but where are you hiding it?

Ah, be quiet, you and pay attention.

Oh, you're a bloody mixer, Rouger!

Think you were born with
a needle up your arse!

I've got to decide the best
way to tackle this job.

I'll settle that for you, Bob.

-How?
-I'll just drop it.

You will like hell,
Peter, don't you start.

Enough kidding in here for one morning.

He might drop it anyway.

[bell rings]

[Bob] Ah, busy morning.

What did you mean there, Rouger?

Mean about what?

When you said I might drop that anyway.

Ah, so you might.

So could anybody.

That's not it, you meant
me special, didn't you?

Oh, so you know me better
than I do myself, like?

I know you for a big-mouth dying get.

You better watch it.

You'll be foaming at the mouth soon.

Ah, that's it, isn't it,
that's what you meant, eh?

I might take a wee turn and drop it,

that's what you meant!

You couldn't hold your tongue
in front of the boy here,

you had to let him know!

It's you that's letting him know.

Whatever he says, son, it's not epilepsy.

[Rouger laughs]

It's not epilepsy!

I take a wee tightness in
my throat every so often,

you know, a kind of constriction.

It looks bad, but it's not malignant.

So, if that big, lousy,
squeezed-up pox-eye

tells you anything different,

you'll know him for a
five-star bastard liar.

[Rouger] You might get your
go sooner than you think.

Oh, you, I've seen more go

in a hand-reared Abernethy bloody biscuit!

You common, school board-faced,
sodomistic pig, you!

Away you go, Peter.

Let go of the grip, Charlie!

Try and get away.

Look, this is between him and me.

What's on my mind's between me and you.

Oh, the strength kick again, is that it?

That's it.

Well, while you're at it,
try shafting some of it

through to wee Nancy-

Ah, Charlie, my arm!

You'll break my arm!

Right.

Then listen.

You lift her name once more in here

and I'll split you.

Take you apart!

Hey, Joe, Joe, listen
to this in this paper.

"Parents in the Anderston
district of Glasgow

are invited and encouraged

to view the new school
to be opened soon to

accommodate children of
school age in the district.

The school will be known as
Finnieston Public School."

Joe, that's the school I
went to, Finnieston School.

Hey, do you think I can keep this paper?

I might take it in and show
it to my old schoolteacher.

There you are, Joe, do you want to see it?

Away you go and don't bother me.

Have this set to finish off the day.

But do you not want to have a look at it?

Beat it, I'm telling you, blow!

All right, all right.

All right, Norrie.

Come on, we'll get whacked in.

And you's get wired in too.

Can't go up the stair, but
you're all squealing murder.

Right, son, feed up.

What's that in your hand, eh?

Oh, it's this old paper
that came out the mirror.

Oh, aye, what year?

1921.

[Bob laughs]

No photos in it, I'll bet.

No, just reading.

There's a paragraph about the
opening of our school in it.

[Bob] Ah, what school was that, then?

Finnie, Finnieston.

[Bob] Aye.

Down Anderston way?

Aye, do you know it?

No, Cowcaddens was where I was brought up.

There used to be a beveling
shop down your way.

-You know Elliot Street?
-Aye.

Aye, well, down there.

Quite unusual, that.

The trade was mostly centred
up round about the Cowcaddens.

Lot of Irishmen in it, too.

Hard men.

Hard drinkers, a lot of them.

Used to wait in the pub
'til a few jobs came in,

then go into the shop when
the gaffer sent for them.

More pumice, Norrie.

Now, you see, Norrie, try
and get used to knowing

when the wheel needs
a wee bit more pumice.

Not have me telling you all the time.

When the wheel's dry, you
can smell the burning, see?

All right, try some again.

Oh, no, Norrie!

You had it right there,

and now you're away
back again, eh? [laughs]

Ah, doubt you would have
lasted long in the old days,

eh, Norrie?

Ah, but you never know, you never know.

You might just see a job like

one of the old ones quite soon.

Big job lying through there,
and I've got the feeling

that Leslie's gonna tell
us to drop everything,

get on with it this afternoon.

I don't know who first
bevelled this thing, Bob,

I think it must've been old Alex Freer

when he was hitting the wine.

A wee bit off the true, eh?

It's like the rocky road
to Port Dundas, look.

See any sign of old Alex Freer these days?

No, not for a while now.

The last time I saw
him, he couldn't see me.

Ah, he'll never get off the juice.

Ah, well, as long as he doesn't
come in here tapping us,

we'll be all right.

Last time he came in here,
he was like a bloody ghost,

he was the colour of pumice.

Ah, that's the wine for
you, Bob, the dadlum.

[Bob] Good trade, when he was.

Might be dead, for all we know.

Aye, he was fading away.

Does the feeder up not
find this a monotonous job?

[Bob] Oh, a wee bit, not too bad.

Is it all right if I
can keep this old paper?

[Bob] Ah, to hell with the
paper, just pay attention.

Well, nobody seems to care
about it except for me.

I mean, it's kind of historical.

I was gonna take it in and show
it to my old schoolteacher.

Listen, son, school days are over.

Now, forget the paper and just
keep your mind on the job.

That way, you and me will get along fine.

Aye, right, I'm sorry.

Stop apologising, Norrie, just do the job.

[Bob yells]

-I'm sorry, Bob.
-[bell rings]

Ah, stiff me, that bastard bell again.

On with the apron, off with the apron.

You'd think, by jeez, I
was a whore on a hard day.

Here, Rouger.

Finish that side there,

or that bloody thing will never get done.

[Rouger sputters]

You bastard, you tried that!

[Norrie] No, I didn't, I didn't mean it.

Well, feed up right!

Bloody teuchter all right, that's you.

[Norrie] I don't even know
what you're talking about.

Oh, Highland.

Hielan.

Stupid Hielan!

[Norrie] I'm not a Hielan!

Your old man, then?

[Norrie] No!

Your old lady?

You don't like talking about her, do you?

What should I talk about her for?

Big innocent game now, eh?

Out at three o'clock in the
morning looking for the doctor?

[Norrie] She was ill.

Anyway, it's none of your business.

A miss, was it?

[Norrie] A what?

Don't come it, you know, a miss.

Couple of snorts of penny
royal, and bang goes the baby.

Miscarriage, was it?

She was sick in the middle of the night.

Abortion.

Was that it?

You're a stinking big bastard.

Don't you talk about
my old lady like that.

She dropped it, didn't she?

Oh!

Oh, I've got him going now!

Look at him, feet ano!

Let that boy go, you dirty, big sod,

or I'll put my boot in your naggers!

You couldn't put your boot in shite!

Is it not time you had a wee convulsion?

You midden, you parish-bred,
misbegotten git,

you're a bloody liberty-taker!

[Norrie sobs]

[Bob] Don't know what
you're doing down there,

get on your feet.

What you greeting for?

[Peter] He's greeting because this

big, long-distance sod
here's been tormenting him.

Honest to God.

Rouger, you're a needle
of the first bloody metal.

I was reading about folk like you.

Psychopaths they call them, you hear that?

Psychopaths.

Aye, that's one of those wee special roads

for riding the bike on, isn't it?

Well, one of these days,
you'll run into it,

and I hope I'm there to see it.

That's been said before.

All right, Norrie, I don't
know what he said to you,

but it's not the worst you'll hear,

in this game or any other.

[Norrie sniffs]

So, come on, feed up.

Come on, come on, move, feed up.

I'm chucking it!

I've told you, you're
not in the school now,

you're with the big men outside.

So, either feed up or take off your apron

and put your jacket on.

[machines roaring]

We're meant to be starting that big job

sometime this afternoon.

Oh, then you'll see something, Norrie.

See a bit of the trade as it used to be.

Four-handed we'll be to this job.

Two-inch bevel all round.

Ah, not much of that kind of
stuff going about these days.

What's it for?

Ah, some daft dancing school
wants a matching mirror

for one that got broke.

Hey, Joe, put the water on for the tea.

Forgot about it.

That's his job now.

He'll do it tomorrow.

All the rest of your jobs too.

I hope that means running down

to the betting shop for you.

Now, less of your lip, Joe!

Oh, hey, that reminds me.

I backed three winners on Friday

and forgot to collect the money.

Wait a minute.

Where'd I put the ticket, eh?

Here it is.

Listen, Norrie, son.

Take a run down to the betting shop

and pick up the money for us, will you?

Out the back door, up the stair,

100 yards down the street on this side,

you think you can do that?

-Sure, no bother.
-Ah, well, on you go.

It's a lovely day outside.

You'll enjoy the run.

That's it, Bob.

Ah, right.

[Peter sings]

♪ Meet me tonight when
the clock strikes nine ♪

♪ Down in the glen where
the stars brightly shine ♪

♪ And we will walk, love, over the hill ♪

♪ Meet me tonight by the old watermill ♪

♪ Evening will come at
the close of the day ♪

♪ And to the glen we
will both make our way ♪

♪ Your hand in mine, love, over the hill ♪

♪ Meet me tonight by the old watermill ♪

[humming]

Tea's up.

That's it, Bob.

Just a few pence short of eight quid.

Oh, jammy and jammy,

and just about what I thought myself.

Hey, not bad for a dollar all up, eh?

Aye, you're a dab hand
at the accumulators, Bob.

You always manage to back one stotter.

I suppose it makes up for all the stevers.

Aye, you're right, Peter.

This time last year, I had two bob,

10 pence going for me
on a four-horse roll-up.

Just over £14, it got me.

Aye, you didn't forget the
boy that ran with the line.

[Bob] I'm not forgetting
him this time either.

-Here, half a quid.
-Oh, great, eh!

There were two of you's this time.

You went on a bet and the
boy here picked it up,

so dollar each.

-What?
-[laughing]

Och, I've been doing it for donkey's!

He comes in here new,

and the first day he
goes, he's on a dollar!

[Bob] That's right, dollar to
you and a dollar to the boy.

There you are, Pontius!

I didn't ask for it.

[Bob] Never heed him, get your tea.

Don't think there's enough left for him.

Well, what did you not put plenty on for?

Just put the usual on.

Forgot about him.

Oh, that's all right, I've got my flask.

Oh, a flask, eh?

Hey, Lord Fauntleroy's sister

sends him to his work with
a flask and sandwiches.

What do you want a flask for?

Plenty of gas in the ring.

Oh, it's just to go with my dinner piece.

You eating your dinner in this place?

Aye.

Do you not all do it?

[Charlie] I think more of my gut

than eating my chuck in here.

Well, does nobody do it, then?

You'll be on your tod the
minute the whistle goes.

There's only one other
man in here at dinnertime.

Who's that?

The beveler's ghost.

[Peter] Ah, the beveler's arse!

[laughing]

Don't you listen to them, son,

many a good kip I've had
in here at dinnertime.

Oh, it's a lot of junk, that ghost stuff.

Mind you, I'll not be having
a kip today, all the same.

No, I'll be tawdling down
to the local with Bob, here,

for a glass of that class lager.

You're gonna set them up today, I hope.

Ah, I don't mind.

Not every day you get a
wee turn at the bookie's.

Good.

You're all invited.

Not me, Bob, thanks all the same.

You know me.

[Bob] You, Rouger?

No, I wanna get a spare
inside tube for the bike.

Maybe if I get back.

Suit yourself.

[clanging]

Charlie!

We're all galvanised with
you dropping that thing!

You must have some strength.

Aye, some strength, and some knack too.

But you learn the knack through practise.

You fancy trying to learn it, then?

I've got some knack of my own.

Shoving that thing over your head

half a dozen times might look snazzy.

You try shoving a bike up to
Dalmally and back in one day

and see who'd have the knack then.

Knackered, more like you'd be.

Wouldn't waste my time.

Oh, we weren't wasting our
time yesterday, I'll tell you.

We caught six riders
from the Troy Wheelers

just below the Falls of Falloch.

Four of us and six of them.

They knew we were on their tail,

and they tried to shake us in the climb.

And suddenly, the road ahead was clear,

and one of our boys shouts, "Jump!"

We were out our saddles like jockeys.

Like one man, we sprinted up the hill,

danced away from them.

Burnt off they were, burnt right off.

And that wasn't knack,
that was pedalling, Mac,

shoving and pedalling.

Bravo.

What the hell's this?

-Give us that!
-[Rouger laughs]

Give us back my drawers!

What the hell you doing
with these? [laughs]

Your sister's, is that it?

Some boy, eh?

Takes his sister's knickers out with him.

You keep the sister out of it.

It was some bird up at
a window shouting at me

when I was coming down a back stair

and flung those things over.

-Who, the work next door?
-Aye.

Hey, what you telling us?

That some young fox up
there hauls off her drawers

and chucks them out the window for you?

They weren't for me.

Well, for somebody else, then?

I don't know.

There's nobody in here who knows

any of the birds up there, except Charlie.

Oh, shut it.

[Charlie] All right, boy, speak up.

All right, but it's not my fault.

There was two or three of
these lassies up there.

The window was slung open.

One of them seemed to be trying to stop

the other two flinging those things,

but they came flying out the window

and one of them shouted,

"These are for Charlie.

Tell him Nancy says they're on fire,

and he's the man with the hose."

-[laughing]
-You little bastard!

No, no, Charlie, no, no.

The boy wanted to keep his
mouth shut, you made him speak.

Is that not right, Peter?

Aye, fair enough, the boy
wanted to hold his tongue.

What the hell does it matter, anyway?

It was just a bunch of lassies skylarking.

Suppose you're right.

Okay, son, forget it.

Joke's on me.

But it's over.

Just keep that in mind.

Everybody.

[machines roaring]

Do you think the morning
went past quick, Bob?

Fast, quick, vanished, disappeared.

How, do you not?

Well, it seemed quite a long time to me.

In school, you get different
periods and time goes quick.

Back at school again, are you?

Take my advice, son, put it behind you.

Not unless you're thinking
of going back there, are you?

No, no chance.

Aye, gotta make the break
sometimes, so stick in.

You might think this is a
rough job, rough folk at it,

but it's not as bad as it used to be.

The Rouger's old man was a beveler.

Now, you think he's twisted?

You want to have seen his old man.

He would collect his wages
at the end of the week

and take the boys too.

That was the last they would see of him

'til the pubs were shut
on a Saturday night.

They were lucky if he had enough left

to keep them in pig's feet
for the rest of the week.

[bell rings]

Oh, what does he want now?

Hey, Norrie.

You really fancy that bike over there, eh?

Are you giving it away?

Ah, you can always have a gander at it.

How much will it cost us?

Feel the position.

Now, if you see a rider
with his position right,

you know he's a pedaler.

But if you see a bloke
with his ass in the air,

you know he's a plunk, a Joseph.

Ah, well, I wouldn't
care what I looked like

if I had this thing under me.

You'd get in a knot before
you reached Old Kilpatrick.

I've shoved a bike before this.

You'd get fire in your gut.

Just like that fire behind you.

[Norrie] What's that for?

[Rouger] Not feel a bit cold?

[Norrie] No, not me.

Old papers make very good burning.

Is that that old paper
that came out the mirror?

Oh, you're getting warm,

but not as warm as that
crap about your old school.

You's are a couple of animals.

Liberty-takers, you knew
I wanted that paper.

Teacher's pet, eh?

Galloping back to get a pat on the head

for being a good boy.

And I thought you were gonna
be my mate in here, Joe.

No chance, Mac.

Lousy bastards.

[Bob] What's that burning?

Go on, tell him.

Tell the teacher.

Here, the big, bad boy set
fire to his paper. [laughs]

Joe, you get some water on that at once,

or I'll land you a
severe kick in the arse.

Rouger, you're a lousebag,
plain and simple.

It was doing you no harm to
let the boy have the paper,

but you couldn't leave it, could you?

I knew your old man.

I wouldn't have crossed him,

but he was straight in his own way.

You, when they bury you,
they'll use a twisted coffin.

My old man was a pig!

And when he got to the age he was past it,

I let him know it, too.

Aye, don't tell us, I remember
his last days at the job.

You used to thump him on the chest

and say, "Go on, you dirty old pig, you."

All right, Norrie, don't
stand there like a stumor,

mix some pumice or something.

But stir your ideas, the lot of you's.

Peter, Charlie, come here, I want you's.

You too.

Now, listen, Leslie said we've got to get

that big mirror plate
through here right now,

so give us your efforts

and we'll lie it through
against the stair.

You want me, Bob?

When I want you, I'll ask you.

You've got me in bad with the gaffer.

I got you in bad?

I didn't do anything.

You and your manky old paper.

Well, you knew I wanted to
keep it 'cause it was old.

Look, old papers out of old mirrors

are 10 a penny in this job.

I didn't know that.

You's didn't have to burn it anyway.

Ah, get bottled!

Is that you bringing it through now, Bob?

[Bob] Ah, well, we're not exactly

taking it out the back door.

[Leslie] See you don't mark the face.

I was just looking for rough corners

to give it a dunt against.

It's all right kidding, Bob,
but that's a valuable job.

Watch the stairs, Peter!

Well, thanks for reminding
me they're there,

I'd never noticed them before.

You're all in good humour
today, I can see that.

We're all just trying to get this job

from one side of the shop to the other.

Where are you putting it down?

We'll lie it alongside the stairs there,

if you'll get out the road, that is.

Sorry, sorry.

Right.

Do you think that's the
safest place for it?

It's the only place
for it, unless you know

somewhere in this shop
I haven't seen before.

No need for the sarcasm, Bob,
just seeing things right.

[Bob] Just a minute, Leslie,
I'll talk to you in a minute.

Right, my lads, just get
your hands down there.

That's it, lie it against the landing.

You'll have to be careful

when you're going into the doings.

Well, now, Leslie.

That wasn't too bad, was it?

Oh, quite good, quite good.

You laddies be careful when
you're going up the stairs,

no jumping, you hear that, sonny?

Yes. Mr. Skinner.

Well, I suppose you're right, Bob.

That's just about the best place for it.

When do you think you'll
make a start on it?

Oh, maybe two o'clock, half past.

[Leslie] Well, as long as you

get it started this afternoon.

I don't know what all
the panic is, Leslie.

We'd be better giving this a full day.

No, must get it started sometime today.

You're the boss.

Well, I'll be off then.

Remember what I told you,
boys, watch the stairs.

Away and put your bum in a frame

and hang it out the window.

That man would drive you
to drink, wouldn't he?

-[laughing]
-Well, he'll drive me today.

You're still gonna set them up, I hope.

Maybe you shouldn't go today, hey, Peter?

The day a lager sets me off
my stroke, I'll chuck it.

[high-pitched whistling]

Give us a hand off with my wellies, Bob.

[coughing]

Dear me, what a smell.

Hey, hey, they were washed this morning.

What in?

[laughing]

-See you, Peter.
-Aye, right.

I'll leave a couple of
lights on for you, son,

but don't be touching anything
you shouldn't touch, now.

Aye, right.

[Norrie yells]

You whey-faced old bastard.

You come near me and I'll break

every bit of glass in this shop over you.

Wait, wait.

Don't be feared, son.

You might be a ghost, but you touch me

and you'll regret the day
that you ever snuffed it!

I'm not a ghost, son!

Sometimes I wish I was, eh!

Sometimes I feel like one.

But I'll just need to wait my time.

I'm sorry if I gave you a fright.

What you doing here?

It's what I was doing
here before you were born.

The best years of my
life I spent down here.

With the pumice and the
wheels and the slurry.

What?

Slurry.

The grindings of the glass

that gathers at the bottoms of the wheels.

You must be new here, eh?

When did you start?

[Norrie] This morning.

Aye.

Aye, you'll not have learned
all the different names

for the wee bits and pieces
round about the trade.

The burning and the slurry and...

The culet, eh, eh?

You know what culet is, eh?

-No.
-Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's not much.

Sounds like something though, eh?

Scrap glass in that box
below the bench there,

shards, spikes, remains of old jobs

that gets bunged away and forgotten about.

That's culet.

Nobody told me.

Yeah, yeah.

Sometimes I feel like a bit
of old culet myself, hey?

Sometimes in the mornings,

I feel as if the culet's inside me.

Apexes, corners, wee
sharp slithers of glass

trying to bust their way out of my inside.

It's not glass, of course.

It's just the way I am
sometimes in the mornings, eh?

Were you looking for somebody?

[man laughs]

Was it Bob you were looking for?

Yeah, Bob.

Or maybe Peter, eh?

Any of the old ones.

The young ones are different.

Wouldn't give you a look at their drawers

if their arse was studded with diamonds.

Ah, go on, sit down, son, have your piece.

You're not just sure of me yet, are you?

Ah, it's all right, it's all right.

Ah, go on, don't bother with me.

I'm Alex Freer, oh-oh!

Jeez.

[Norrie] Bob backed a couple of winners,

and him and Peter are down in the pub.

Are they?

If I'd have known that, I
wouldn't be here, I'll tell you.

Well, could you not run down?

You might catch them.

Run? [laughs]

That's a good one, hey?

What's your name?

-Norrie.
-Well, Norrie.

The thing I want most right
now is a big jug of wine,

but I couldn't run.

See if they were at the
bottom of the pitch out there

giving away in barrels.

You not feeling well?

You cold or something?

I'm cold, I'm hot, I'm
sweating, I'm shivering.

Jesus and Joseph.

Listen, son.

[Norrie] What?

Ah, nevermind, eh!

You just started this
morning, is that right?

Aye.

You gonna stick it?

I'm not sure.

I'll have to wait and see.

Don't.

Norrie, son, don't, get away from it.

Spend your days grinding
glass and at the finish,

like slurry at the bottom of that wheel.

Never get away from the sound of water

dripping in your ears.

Damp creeps into the soles
of your feet and grips you

right up to your neck.

Your face turns the colour of pumice.

You can't stop it!

See that Rouger, he tries to
keep the shine on his face

by galloping like a bloody
eejit out on that bike of his.

And Charlie thinks he
can put off the evil day

lifting that stupid weight
of his over his head.

They can't stop it.

Something breaks down in the chest,

and the sound of your voice gets thin.

Then one day,

and you're an old man, bent, brittle.

Don't stay at it, Norrie, son.

Get something else, anything.

Out there in the sun and the fresh air.

Get a job in a motor, eh?

Or a van.

Anything, just don't stay at this trade,

because if you do,

it'll bend you.

Aye, well, I haven't
made up my mind about it.

Well, take my words, make it up soon.

Look, I'm not saying that there aren't

some lovely things about this trade,

but that's all in the end product, like.

I've seen some work, you know?

By some of the old fellas.

Bringing wee needles round
the corners of your eyes,

it was that.

Lovely.

But it's not worth it, son, take my word.

The price for all that
work's gonna be paid.

[Norrie] How long have
you been stopped working?

A few year, hey.

I come in here sometimes just
to see the boys, you know?

Sometimes they bung us a few
bob, get us a glass of wine.

I'm a wine-mopper, you know?

Is that how you're shaking?

That's how, son, that's how.

You could imagine me
holding a three-foot plate

with a shake like this, son, eh?

[Norrie] Dangerous for you.

Dangerous for everybody here.

I'm not saying the trade did this to me,

I mean, this might've happened anyway,

but sometimes stuck down
here with the mill going,

sawdust,

water dripping.

On bad days, I used to think
this is how it's going to be

after the big trumpet goes, eh?

Grab the jacket, dive
out the back door there

for a glass of the ruby red.

Then the time came, just
couldn't come in at all.

Not to work, anyway.

Son.

How long is it 'til the
rest of them gets back?

It's a good 40 minutes yet, anyway.

I can't stay here.

Wee funny things are
beginning to jig about

at the sides of the eyes.

I'll just need to...

[Alex yells]

It's all right, son, it's all right.

It's all right, I'm all right.

I'll need to try and catch
the boys in the road up there.

But what if you don't catch them?

Don't know.

But as long as you never
know, you just have to suffer.

Just have to suffer.

[Norrie] Would a dollar be any use to you?

You mean you would give us a dollar?

[Norrie] Aye.

Aye, give us it.

Norrie, gonna give us it?

I was gonna tap you then a wee while ago,

but I mean, you're just
a young boy. [sobs]

[Alex yells]

[Alex sobs]

A dollar's quite a lot,

see the way I'll drink it.

At least the top of my
head'll not come off, eh?

It might not make much
difference in the long run,

but today anyway.

I'll be safe for a day.

Cheerio,

Norrie.

You're a kind boy.

Anybody here?

Where are you, teuchter?

Come out, come out, we're selling fruit.

Charlie there?

Oh, no the now.

Come on in.

Oh, not if he's not there.

It's all right, he'll be in a minute.

No, just tell him I was here, eh?

I'm telling you straight.

He'll be back in a shake.

Come on in.

There's nothing to be fear to.

Right.

But you keep your distance, do you hear?

Aye, sure.

Sure, I'm just fixing the bike.

[lock jangles]

What's all the security for?

Keep that door open.

I'm not bothering you.

If you want to open the door,
there's nobody stopping you.

You'll not be stopping
me anyway, and chance it.

You're coming on as if I was
gonna dive you or something.

I mean, you hardly know me.

I know you all right.

Wouldn't trust you with a dead cat.

How do you know about me?

Charlie been wising you
up on the shop gossip?

I just know, that's all.

[Rouger laughs]

Well, I've heard of them,

but I never knew there
were one of them in here.

One of what?

Oh, the kind that run to their mammies

or their birds or their wives.

See what a bad boy Rouger
is, see what a good boy me.

Say that in front of Charlie.

You implied it, hen, not me.

All right, I'll tell him,
see who's smiling then.

Don't know what you're
losing the brow for.

You stick the needle
into me, I stick it back.

Nothing the matter with that.

I'm bailing out of here.

Ah, suit yourself.

Go, stay, I'm not bothering you.

Well, would you mind
opening the door, then?

No, I don't mind,

just give us a minute and I'll open it.

How can you work in a place like this?

-It's not that bad.
-It's a dump.

Places like this should be demolished.

[Rouger] Most of them
are, but we're still here.

Ah.

I wouldn't work here if you
gave me a mink Rolls-Royce.

You'll be getting that any day now, eh?

I mean, when you and
Charlie walk down the aisle.

That'll be the day.

What, you not set the date yet?

[Nancy] I think the calendar stopped.

Do you mean to say that
Charlie's not sweating

to get you signed up?

You ask too many questions.

No offence, just thought you
wanted to air your feelings.

Aye, well, I don't want to broadcast them.

All right.

I heard nothing.

Well, that's it.

Will I open the door for you now?

In a hurry to see me off now?

No.

No, I like talking to you.

As a matter of fact, I like you.

Oh, save it, Santy.

How can you like me,
you don't even know me.

Well, the cat can look up the
queen's drawers, can't it?

That's enough!

It's just a way of speaking.

And I've seen you stacks of times,

and in my own way, I've liked you.

I've not said much to you, right enough,

but then I don't know where I stand, do I?

Well, you stand where you
always stood, big 'un,

right out in the rain.

That's not exactly fair, is it?

I mean, for all you know,

I could be one of the
nicest fellas in the city.

Well, I'll never know anything about that.

Well, that's up to you.

Were you supposed to see Charlie?

Aye.

Said he'd see me in front of
the work at a quarter past.

He could've left late.

He sometimes does a bit of
training with that weight there.

Maybe he forgot.

Training for what?

Possilpark Olympics?

No, getting his strength up.

I mean, a lovely girl like you.

Flattery will get you nowhere.

No, I mean it.

Genuine.

I think you're a lovely girl.

Well, the compliments are bowling me over.

No, I mean it, straight.

Terrific body, smashing face.

The lot.

You better not let him
hear you saying that.

He'll never hear it unless you tell him.

You are dead crafty, aren't you?

No, strike me dead.

If I was Charlie, you'd be right up

on the old pedestal for my money.

Do you know, I used to
think you were a dead-head.

You're getting quite
romantic in your old age.

Well, I'll say it again,
Nancy, you don't know me.

Sit down a minute, and if
you'll not fly off the handle,

I'll tell you what I think.

Fag?

I don't use them.

Saving my strength for the big event.

Think it will be worth
it when the time comes?

No swanking, now.

I mean, if you were my bird,

I would look after you in
a way that Charlie doesn't,

I don't think.

Didn't know you told fortunes.

I see the fella day in and day out.

I mean, chucking that weight there

over his nut 100 times a session

doesn't mean to say he's got
confidence in the right place.

You're doing the talking.

You tell me if I'm wrong,

but I believe all this strong-man stuff

is strictly for the onlookers.

What is he like in the heat of the moment

when the defences are down?

Or when anything else is
down, for that matter.

No, don't take the spur.

Has he ever set the brush on fire,

-in the clinch, I mean?
-Ha, you'd like to know,

-wouldn't you?
-No, but you should know.

You should know the difference.

Four years you've been
waiting, haven't you?

Waiting for the man behind the muscle

to give you a chance, just once.

-What are you getting at?
-It's simple.

He blooters himself into a trance,

breaking tissue, building
the frame, and for what?

Another night when he leaves you

like a cold pie on a doorstep?

Well, maybe I'm not that kind of girl.

You are, Nancy, you are.

You're just waiting for the right moment,

and it might come at a time
that will surprise you.

Like when?

Well, let me put it to you this way.

Charlie's a champ, from
the fingernails up.

Now, I'm like steel from
the waist down, Nancy,

there's power there.

That machine across there, that bike,

that's built me something

you couldn't imagine in
your wildest fantasy.

I think it's time I was leaving.

No, hang on just a couple of shakes

and let me state my case.

And if you fancy it, I'll prove it.

The men will soon be back.

Well, we've just got time then.

Look, you said you had
nothing against me, Nancy.

You let me take care of you for a minute,

I'll have something lovely against you.

Not here, for God's sake, not here.

Well, onto the straw then, come on.

Come on, lovely bed
for a lovely deed, hen.

Come on, you'll be all
right with me, Nancy.

I'll take care of you.

That's it.

I'll take care of you, Nancy.

[moaning]

[grunting]

[Nancy yells]

Who's that up there?

Nancy!

You knee-crep, swatching little snotter!

I'll cut the bloody scrotum off you!

I'll eviscerate you!

You hure-spun, bastrified,
constrapulated young prick!

I'll do 20 years for mincing you!

I had her!

Right there I had her,
spread-eagled waiting for a knife

and you blew it!

Another minute.

I scored with her, Charlie
never scored and you

shankered it, you parish-eyed,
perishing bastard!

Well, what she never got,
you'll get, come down.

Come down here, I'm telling you!

Come down, or you're going to stay up!

I'm fear to stay up, but
I'm fear to come down!

You better come down, young 'un!

See this cut?

I'll make a bent out of
this and I'll come up and...

-I'm coming up!
-No, no, no.

I'm coming down.

Don't touch us, gonna no touch us?

I never meant to watch, honest.

I'll not say anything.

Aye, you better not say anything,

or I'll tell them I blocked
you because you wanted it!

I'll do that anyway!

Leave us alone, you dirty pig!

I'll tell Charlie when
he comes down that stair!

You'll not live that long,

I'll have you stuffed and
plastered in a couple of shakes!

What the hell's the row down there?

[Rouger] Nothing, Leslie.

It's just a bit of kidding.

It's a terrible noise.

Sounds like a bad day at Hampden.

No more of it, now!

Yes, Leslie, right you are.

[Leslie] See to it, then.

Right.

Just you keep buttoned up
about this and you're safe.

But you say anything,
especially to Charlie,

and I'll take a cutting
out of this culet box

and they'll be stitching you forever.

You don't think I'll be
standing here waiting for it,

do you?

Oh, you mean you'll be taking a powder?

I'll not be loitering!

[Rouge laughs]

I put the wind up your hair, didn't I?

You don't think I meant all that, do you?

I'm bloody sure you did.

Not at all!

Eh, Norrie, what do you take me for?

All right, you leave me alone
and I'll be saying nothing.

That's you screwing now, Norrie.

We'll just keep Charlie out of this.

'Cause if you open your
mouth, I'll get to you quick.

Believe it.

Just keep your hands off me.

Ah, sure, sure.

Hey, remember, no grass.

You do, I'll dig you up.

New kipper, you.

Aye, you can take the
drawers off the bookies

every day in the week, Bob.

And it'll give me great pleasure

to stand alongside you
and drink the proceeds.

Ah, if I make it once a year,
Peter, I'm not complaining.

[Peter] [laughs] Aye.

I'll buy you another pint next year.

Where will we all be then, eh?

Oh, with any luck, we'll all be somewhere.

Not so sure about the shop,
Peter, that's on its last legs.

[Peter] Aye, like the trade.

Ah, I wouldn't say that.

Maybe not the same class of
work as there used to be,

but there'll always be
room for a good man.

Ah, well, right now,

I haven't room for all
that lager I've drunk,

I'll away and pour the tatties.

♪ Dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping ♪

♪ Here the pennies fall ♪

Enjoy your piece, Norrie?

Aye, not bad.

You not go out at all?

I didn't bother.

Did the ghost not get you?

Aye, he was here.

Who was here?

That old man.

Who was that, then?

He said his name was Alex, Alex Freer.

Hey, you didn't tell me that.

You didn't ask us.

Was he right in the shop here?

Aye.

Was he away before I came in?

Aye.

You sure about that?

Well, you didn't see him here, did you?

Do you not know if he was here?

I just thought he might
have went out the back door.

You would've seen him then, wouldn't you?

What you getting into an uproar for?

[Rouger] Just asking.

Are you sure you're here the now?

No, I'm up in the rafters,
higher and higher.

You hear that, Peter, eh?

Eh?

Old Alex Freer was in the shop here,

and the Rouger's not sure
whether he saw him or not.

Oh, was he invisible?

-[laughing]
-All right, forget it!

Just thought he might've
slipped away as I came in.

What's up with you?

Nothing.

There's nothing up with me.

He left a while before
the Rouger got here.

[Peter] Ah, what was he wanting?

Looking for you and Bob.

What did you tell him?

[Norrie] Said you's were down the pub.

Oh, well, that should've been enough

to send him galloping.

No, he was kinda shaky.

[Bob] You mean to say he wasn't

chasing us up to the
boozer when he left here?

I'm not sure.

Did he not try to put the tap on you

for the price of a gill?

No, but I gave him a dollar anyway.

What?

Dollar Bob gave you, you
bunged that out, stumer?

I suppose I was.

I just felt sorry for the man.

What do you make of that, Rouger?

He's a very ungrateful boy, that.

Devious, like.

Aye, like some other people
no a mile away from here.

Ah, what's the odds?

His dollar, wasn't it?

Alex Freer look bad?

He was sick.

He'll not get better.

Hey, that whistle hasn't went,

time we're all starting, come on.

See any signs of old Alex
Freer on your travels, Charlie?

Saw nobody, nobody!

Not anybody!

[grunting]

-[yells]
-[clanging]

What's eating you, Charlie?

45 minutes I stood on that corner.

Not a sign!

Not a whiff!

By jeez, she'll wait
for me, I'm telling you.

Hey, did Nancy not show up for something?

That's right.

Or something!

I'm standing there like a motionless pup.

45...

Hey, you must be angry, Charlie.

Yeah, by jeez, I'm angry.

I'll...

I'll...

[groans]

Oh, no, Charlie, you'll
have us all in the nuthouse

if you drop that thing again!

[clanging]

Oh!

That's the grand bastard
finale, Charlie Weir.

Now, you get that
earth-shaker out of here.

Nine shell-shocked, pile-driving

bloody year we've had of
it, so finish now, finish!

I don't care how you do it.

You can stuff it in your back pocket

or ram it up your nose, but out it goes!

Friday at the latest!

Oh, hey, that's short notice
you've given him, Bob.

Aye, you get to your work, plaster arse.

Now, listen, everybody.

We get all the odds and ends
and rush jobs cleared up

before we start on the big
job sometime this afternoon.

Come on now, get stuck into it!

Plenty of pumice there, Norrie?

-Aye.
-Right.

Where's this old mirror?

Oh, hell.

Hey, Bob.

Bob, I'm terribly sorry,

I should've noticed that before this.

The grinder's pretty worn down,

I doubt very much if
there's enough left in it

to see the big job through.

Oh, hey, that's a problem
right enough, Peter.

Any suggestions?

Not unless we make a start on the old mill

'til we get a new wheel on.

What, nothing left in
that wheel there at all?

Aye, but it might not be enough.

We'll have a look at it anyway.

Hey, Norrie, take a run up the stair

and tell Leslie I would
like a word with him.

That doesn't look too bad, Peter.

I think it might just last,
what do you think yourself?

Well, it could last maybe,

but then you know how it goes.

One minute you've got a grinder,

the next minute you're down to the metal.

Ah, we'll chance it anyway.

It's up to you.

But just in case, we'll get the boys

to sieve some sand for the old mill.

Hey, Joe.

When Norrie comes down the stairs,

start getting a wee load of
sand through here and riddle it.

Peter, see if the belts
in the old mill are okay.

Right.

Well, come on, come on, Joe, get cracking.

What, sieving sand?

Aye, sieving sand, what do you think?

It's two years since I sieved sand,

I don't know if I can do it now!

Oh, aye, you'll have
forgot the intricacies, eh?

Well, it's not my job anymore,
Bob, I'm beveling now.

We're all beveling, come on, come on,

you've done the job before.

Show the boy, get the pails ready,

he'll carry some for you.

I hate sieving sand!

Hate getting a kick in the
arse if I give you one!

What do you make of it, eh?

Open bloody rebellion
from the junior staff!

Eh, if there was a war on, they would

take you out in a Mexican
hat and shoot you!

What kept you?

He was on the phone.

Says that you've to go up.

You mean to say...

By jeez, I'll tell him
something, so I will, eh?

Just once.

Just once, you want a wee conference

with the head of the house,
and what happens, eh?

He'll not even come halfway to meet you.

Hey, Bob, your apron!

Ah, to hell with the apron.

You get with Joe there and
learn how to sieve sand.

What's a sieve?

I've heard everything now, eh.

What's a sieve?

I'm away before my
arteries start to chuck it.

Right, you.

Come over here and see if you
can carry a pailful of sand.

I'll go pail for pail you
anytime and chance it.

Ah, well, you should be
doing it by yourself now.

It's not my job anymore.

I have to learn it first, won't I?

Imagine that, eh?

Never heard of a sieve before.

Aye, well, I'm waiting for you to tell us.

Hey, Rouger.

This one here hasn't
heard of a sieve before.

It's a riddle, you muggy.

One of these round things?

That's right.

With the meat safe in the end of it.

Right, now you know, eh?

So, fill up two pails
and carry them through.

That's the stuff, young fella,

that'll put muscles on you.

Aye.

All we need is the ankle chains.

-[laughing]
-Aye, moaning already, eh?

Instant greeting face, that one.

One load of sand, he's knackered.

You lay off of me.

I might be out my class
with anybody else in here,

but I'll give you a run for
it anytime you fancy it.

Well, maybe I fancy it right now.

[Bob] Ah, right.

See you later.

Some game this, eh?

You go up the stair to ask
for a wee bit of advice,

what do you get?

"You're the foreman, Bob,

you know the job and what's required,

it's your responsibility."

Ah, well, he didn't know himself, did he?

Aye, you're right, Peter.

Nevermind, half past two today or earlier,

we get into the big
one there, my decision.

How much sand you got through here?

[Joe] Eight pails.

Aye, that'll do, start riddling it.

Oh, hey, Rouger.

Take this thing and give it a finish.

Don't waste too much time on it.

Aye, right.

[crashing]

[Charlie yells]

I'm going like a punctured bloody pig!

Let's see it.

Yeah, that's bad Charlie, that's very bad.

You'd better get Leslie
to phone an ambulance.

No, no ambulances.

No hospitals.

It's just across the palm,

it'll be all right with a bandage.

Charlie, it looks very bad.

No, I'll go up the stair
and get a bandage on it,

it'll be all right.

But you'll feel nothing, Charlie, honest.

He'll clean it out with a bit of spirit.

Well, that is sore, right enough.

And he'll stick in the old
needle, draw it together

and you're brand new.

Shut up, Rouger!

Not going anywhere.

Go up that stair and get a dressing on it.

-I'll go with you.
-I'll go myself!

You stay away from me, everybody!

There goes the hero for you.

Mr. Universe.

Severe case of the vapours

in case he had to go the hospital.

That was a bad cut.

Aye, palm of his hand.

No more hair growing
there for a while, eh?

You're a monster, Matchett.

You're a diabolical, lousy, big monster.

Your mate cuts himself
and you start crowing.

You're nothing but an imbecile.

Away you and fall off the spar.

Peter's right.

Every man's bad luck's
your excuse for laughing.

Well, he'll not be slinging
that weight of his about

so handy now, I'll wager you.

That's where he's always
had you, isn't it?

Had me nothing.

I don't know what we're gonna
do about that big job there

if Charlie's out the game.

Wouldn't like to trust
Joe as the fourth man.

Oh, Charlie might just make it, Bob.

Very doubtful.

You get a look at that cut?

No, I wasn't too keen
on a close inspection.

I couldn't tell if it
was really bad myself.

You know, Peter, it's a while since

I saw a really bad injury at the job.

I mind one day, a half
plate came off the polisher,

caught this man in the back of the leg.

He never walked right again.

Was that Eddie McCance?

How, do you know him?

No, but I heard about him
up at the Northern Glass.

Well, that's it.

As you said, there's nothing to it.

What's next?

Just use your eyes, plenty lying about.

You're the gaffer.

Hey, Norrie.

Come on, we'll set this old
mirror back in its frame.

Get us a bit of paper off that pile there,

seeing these two intelligent fellas

had the good sense to
set fire to the old one.

There we are.

That's it.

There.

Mind you, when you see it in that frame,

it's right, you know, aye, dead right.

Didn't give it much of a
glance when it first came in,

but now that I see it,
well, it's all of a piece.

Glass and frame in one union,

quite delicate and nicely balanced.

Don't know who the old fella was

that set his hand to the beveling,

but I can read him, can see
he was one of my own kind.

When I look in the
glass, you know, Norrie,

I don't just see myself.

I see the edge of the job, quality,

craftsmanship and the style.

Very near see the face of the
man that was there before me.

Here Leslie come with Charlie.

He's not too bad, Bob,
bad enough, you know,

but not so bad that he'd
have to go to hospital.

You saying that for Charlie's sake

or the sake of the big job there?

No, the job comes into it, of course,

but Charlie says he can manage.

That's right, I'll manage.

What, with one hand?

Listen, this one hand of mine

is as good as two of
anybody else's in here.

And if anybody didn't hear that,

they better flush their ears out.

All right, all right, it's your hand.

You'll get a start made
this afternoon, Bob?

That's what I said and
that's what we'll do.

Listen, Leslie, do us a favour,
I mean, why start today?

I've promised the job
for delivery on Thursday.

If we don't get on with it today,

it'll still be down here on Wednesday.

It's got to be up the stair

tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

I wish you wouldn't put us

all on the rack like that, Leslie.

[Leslie] This afternoon, then.

Aye.

As you say, as you say.

Thanks, Bob, I'll leave you to it then.

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

Skinner by name and skinner by nature.

No wonder old Alex
Freer went on the sauce.

Hey, Joe, make the tea.

It's made.

Ah, thank you, son, thank you.

Anything bad I've said about
you the day, Joe, cancel it.

You are a good, clever, conscientious boy.

Come on now, lads, get your
tea as quick as you can.

There'll be no time later.

[bagpipe music]

What's that?

Oh, it must be that
time of the year again.

Is it the army?

No, not quite, but it could be.

No, no, that's the Academy boys, son.

The Officers Corps or
whatever they call them,

off to the summer camp.

Mummies and daddies walking
alongside their darling boys

to see them off at the station.

Wish I was going with them.

[bagpipe music intensifies]

You'll never see it, young 'un.

Not if you had six lifetimes.

'Cause they're up here,
and you're down here.

And next year when they go by,

you'll still be down
here, like the rest of us.

Not me, I'll not be here.

[Rouger] Not good enough
for you, is that it?

I didn't say that.

[Rouger] But you fancy yourself
up there with that mob?

Just fancy getting away
the hell out the road.

See a bit of the country.

And from what I've
heard, you're never done

going on about diving
up the country yourself.

Aye, but on my terms.

And shoving that bike
up and down the road's

a different thing altogether from

kiss-my-arse and daddy's bankbook.

What are your terms?

Well, no money, anyway.

Maybe a job in a van or something.

That old man, Alex, he was telling me to

blow this job and get
out into the fresh air.

You listen to him and you'll end up

in Carrick Street Model.

Did you believe him?

Don't know.

Made sense the way that he said it.

Don't think you fancy this
game much, young fella, eh?

Don't like some of the folk that's in it.

Ah, we're all a wee bit on the rough side.

Maybe as time goes on, you
won't notice it so much.

Aye.

Well, lads, it's now or never.

Your eye in, Peter?

Bang on.

-You fit, Charlie?
-Yes.

Right, we'll get stevered
into the big one there.

Now, you's young fellas might
see another job like this

in your lifetimes, but it's not likely.

We start on the ground over there,

any sign of the wheel packing in,

we transfer to the old
mill, that right, Peter?

That's the way it is, Bob.

Rouger, you and Joe bring
through the trestle board.

Me and Charlie will get the top off.

Just get the board through
and lie it up against the job,

ease it over gently to the horizontal.

In you go, boys.

All right, that's your end down first.

On you go.

Lie it now.

Wait a minute, we got a hand there.

Up she goes, right.

Up she goes.

Watch Charlie.

Aye, just take it a step at
a time, don't get used to it.

Let the board take the vibrations.

Remember what I said.

Take it nice and gently.

We'll put a bevel in this thing
you could hang in a palace.

Easy now.

Get your end up.

[machine roaring]

Save the job there!

Hey, Joe, get hold of Peter's side!

Get hold of Peter's corner!

Don't let go, Charlie, get
hold of Peter, hey, hey!

Don't bail off with him now,
just lie him down there.

Try and get that up
against that wall, boy.

Just go straight back down.

That's it, ease it over.

There we go, done.

Just let him go.

He'll come out of it soon.

Oh, Charlie, you look as though

you're having some bother
with that hand, eh?

It was fine 'til I took the
full weight of that end there.

What's wrong with you, Norrie?

He's dead, isn't he?

Who, Peter?

Not at all.

I've only seen one.

I mean, he looks like it.

You see him worse than that
if you're here long enough.

He's coming round a bit now.

I don't want to be about

when the likes of that happens gain.

I thought we were all gonna be minced.

Oh, don't make it any worse than it was.

If it had been an ordinary job,

it wouldn't have looked so bad.

It couldn't have been much worse.

He's lucky he's got a job.

[Bob] And this shop is
lucky it's got Peter,

he's got the best eye of
any beveler I've ever met.

And he's lucky he's got you for a china.

And don't you forget it.

[Peter groans]

Come on.

Try and sit up.

Try and sit up.

How you feeling, eh?

[Peter groans]

How you doing, old son?

You're getting far away.

I've got to watch my corner.

[Bob] Yeah, sure, sure.

[Peter mumbles]

Sure.

I very nearly didn't make it there.

My fingers went a funny way, and then I...

[Bob] Just slipped away, eh?

Fell off the spar.

God love us, is that you, Bob?

Aye.

[Peter] Wait.

No, no, Peter, no, no.

We're in the shop.

[Bob] Aye.

Just funny, I thought-

Easy, Peter, easy.

Easy.

Did I pass out, Bob?

[Bob] Yes.

Break anything?

No.

Good.

I'll take you back, we'll fix everything.

Come on, big 'un.

That big bastard told me to
fall off the spar, didn't he?

I believe he mentioned it.

Must've stuck in my mind.

You challenged me a while ago.

I was browned off.

Wasn't needling you all that much.

No, but he was.

Watch your mouth, you.

Don't worry, I'm saying nothing.

All I'm waiting for is
the five o'clock whistle

and I'm jacking it in.

And what'll your old man
say when you tell him?

He'll say try something else.

What was it that finally got you?

Seeing Peter there, was that it?

Didn't help.

Thought that's what it
was that sickened you.

Did it remind you of something?

You keep your mouth
shut, and I'll keep mine.

I'm easy.

Aye, he's not himself.

Try him with some of that
tea, Joe, if there's any left.

Sit down there, Peter.

Thanks.

[Joe] Says he's leaving today, Bob.

-Who's that?
-Him, Norrie.

Is that a fact, eh?

Well, I don't suppose
one boy here or there

will make much difference to this trade.

Hey, Leslie, can you hear me?

Can you come to the head
of the stair a minute,

I want a word with you.

Take that tea slow, Peter, do you good.

I think you can put your jackets on, too.

Joe, son, can you

-get my jacket?
-Hey, Leslie.

Think we might as well all
pack it in for the day.

I mean, Charlie's not fit,
Peter's had one of his turns,

I'll have to see him up the road.

No sense in the rest of us hanging on.

What do you say?

Hold on, Bob, I was on the phone.

I'll have to finish the
call and think about it.

There's nothing to think about.

If Peter and me are not here,

there's nothing anybody else will do.

[Leslie] I'll finish the
call and blow the whistle.

It might take a few minutes.

Gotta be the manager, hasn't he?

He'll blow the whistle in his own time.

I'm sorry, Bob.

It wasn't you I meant when I said

I didn't like some of the folk in here.

Don't apologise to me.

Didn't think you would
stick it long, anyway.

That's how it goes,

new folk don't want to come into the game,

some of them that are at it
don't give a toss for it.

Save your apologies, makes no odds to me.

How you shaping up there, Peter?

[high-pitched whistling]

There you are, son.

There's only one thing you
missed in this job, Mac.

What was that?

You didn't get baptised.

[laughing]

What are you doing, Rouger,

for Christ sake, you want to kill the boy!

I'm just wetting his head!

[Bob] Couldn't let him
go, could you, no, no,

you had to get the needle in.

You might've drowned him, you eejit!

Up him!

He's not one of us!

Didn't deserve that, anyway.

Charlie, Nancy was in here at dinnertime.

And the Rouger tried to shag her.

Come on, Peter.

I'll take you up the road.

I'm one-handed, Rouger,

but if what that boy says
is true, I'll take you.

I'll take you and mash
you into the slurry!

Look, he's a liar, Charlie!

Honest to God.

On my old lady's grave.

I give you my genuine
Bible oath, he's a liar!

What made him say it, then?

I don't know!

I honestly don't know.

Maybe he couldn't take the kidding

and he made it up for badness.

I believe you.

Now, listen, boy.

That's the second time you
raised Nancy's time today.

And each time, you've soiled it!

[Norrie grunts]

[Norrie sobs]

What's the matter, sonny?

Have they been giving you a rough time?

It sometimes happens with new boys.

They haven't really hurt you, have they?

That's all right, then.

I think you'd better get up the stairs.

Where's your jacket?

I'll get it for you.

This bag belong to you too?

Right, come along, then.

There.

Up you go.

[Norrie sobs]

You'll be all right.

Away home to your mother
and you'll be all right.