Famous Scottish Street Gangs from Edinburgh.

Re: Edinburgh Street Gangs


How many diffenrt towns in Edinvburgh are there? When did the first Edinburgh street gangs appear?
Where did you get your research?

Question for MEgannah:

What other gangs existed in Edinburgh besides:


- The 'Squaries' from Holyrood Square.

- The 'Drummond Street Gang'.

- The 'Easties' and 'Westies' from Arthur Street.

_ the 'Middlies'. Who made tomahawks out of roof slates and a piece of stick."?

Question for Megannah
Hello Megannah. Are you there? I have posted a bunch of questions for you, and you haven't answered any of them yet.

awrite m8 , still wantin tae know stuff aboot edin gangs all tell ye what ye want tae know

Questions for ianifrasier1
Hello, ianifrasier1:

I have some questions for you:

Have there ever been rivalries between Edinburgh gangs and gangs from other Scottish cities?
HAve there ever been any rivalries between Scottish gangs, and English, Irish and Welsh gangs?
I was trying to find info on Scottish or Scots-Irish gangs in New YOrk-did any such gangs exist?

What gangs hail from Edinburgh besides:

Boar Club
Dirty Club
Hellfire Club
Odd Fellows
Pious Club
Mohocks
Sweating Club
Crochallan Fencibles

The Hibbees
The Scumbos
The Wester Hailes Wallopers
Toraidh Club
The White Heather Club
The Morningside Ravers
Young Corstorphine Flee

The Society of Oddfellows

The 'Squaries' from Holyrood Square.

- The 'Drummond Street Gang'.

- The 'Easties' and 'Westies' from Arthur Street.

_ the 'Middlies'. Who made tomahawks out of roof slates and a piece of stick."?

edinburgh street gangs
in reply to megannah's topic, i lived in edinburgh in the sixties and seventies and there were some notorious gangs.i came from CLERMISTON and this scheme had three gangs ; JUNGLE, Y.C.D. C.Y.T. jungle was the largest and most notorious of these gangs.they often went on rampages around edinburgh and surrounding districts.i can remember reading in the evening news when a lot of the members appeared in court concerning a rampage in the small seaside town of south queensferry.they would also have regular fights with the Y.B.T. from broomhouse especially when the funfair was on at the gyle.I would say the most notorious gangs came from drylaw (Y.D.T.) ,niddrie (Y.N.T) craigmillar i can't remember their name,oxgangs (bar-ox),broomhouse (Y.B.T). by the way megannah i probably know your father.

why do u all wanna know abt gangs?,r u a sudent who get a bus thru the schemes an thinks the burnt out flats look artistic an romantic?,try livin in thease places before u get too interested in them!

orite mate. a no plenty of street gangs. no overly famous but well known for causing bother.
YPD - young pilton derry
YMD - young mental drylawer
YLT - young leith team
WC - waterfront crew
YMG - young mental grantoner
A no more but canny think.

How can you forget the TCR- Tollcross Rebels,aff their heeds during the 70's.They used to dress Clockwork orange style,bowler hat an all.
bar-ox,clery derry,young broomhouse team & young niddrie terror,ah the days.Most Edinburgh gangs surfaced around the many major housing estates surrounding the city boundaries,mostly to the north,south & west as (easily reached by the number 32/52 bus route by the way!) as well as the district of Leith who provided us with the infamous young leith team.Then there was the Livi skins,Gorgie boot boys & Gorgie derry.

Leith - YLT (one of the oldest in the city)
Clermiston - Subdivided into "factions" (more like one group of pals Vs. Another) known as YCJ or "young clerry jungle"
Drylaw - YMD
Pilton - YPD (pilton "derry" think this links with the long running protestant community in pilton)
SouthSide. Newington - YSS with a particuluar reputation for numbers and use of weapons
EYT - most interesting and recently in the news. mostly a mix of youths from around the city who have claimed a patch of town in edinburghs east end as their "turf"
TYT - tranent young team. essentially after anyone from edinburgh

The McGoverns are a crime family famous in edinburgh that are a type of scottish "mafia".

To say that edinburgh has no gang culture is ridiculous. Scotland as a whole may have one of the highest number of gangs for its population in europe. The above is just a few of the endless number of youth gangs in edinburgh.

Fife just across the the Firth of Forth also has a large gang precense (i.e. the lochkellie boys and AV Toi)

the YIC - Young Inch Cumbie on top non stop

I understand that the thread's originator has moved on and is now researching gang-culture in some of the outlying Galaxies.

Oh god if your wantin nutter familys dont forget the o'briens fron west pilton!

YLT young leith team niddroids Niddry pilton derry clerry lochend boys
hibs casuals hearts casuals muirry team and at least a dozen more

theres the famous Throb Squad Therapists who were rapists from west edinburgh, east craigs I think. I remember reading in the Evening News they used to chant "1, 2, throb squad after you!" before setting about their victims. They didnt give a **** they'd shag anything, male, female, animal, vegetable, mineral. They got put away for about a hundred years for shagging someone known as "yerma" but I hear that the leader is out and a prospective conservative candidate at the next erection.
the gangs pretty much died out by the end of the 70's, gang membership was always fluctual on a daily basis, but theres plenty boys in the laser clinic getting the cool YCD logo taken off their arms
Jungle was a big name - clerry jungle, corrie jungle, gorgie jungle, but who was actually in any of them ? these were gangs for casual gangsters. the real gangs had 4 or 5 people at most and appeared and disapeared with the bloom of youth. 14 years old ******* fighting and stealing. 18 in Saughton and on the fast track to life as a taxi driver with a habit for boys at CC's. Happy days.

There is lots of gangs in Edinburgh, most gangs are boys or boys & girls, never really heard of an all girl gang in Edinburgh. The gangs are mostly everyone that lives in the same area and they fight with gangs from other area's. Niddrie Pilton Southside Muirhouse Leith ect. are known as some of the hardest gangs in Edinburgh and are some of the most roughest area's. Here's a list of some of the gangs i know in Edinburgh:
Pilton - YPD
Muirhouse - MCF
Drylaw - YMD
Royston - YMR
Granton - GYP
Clermiston - YCJ
Leith - YLT
Lochend - YLS
Niddrie - YNT
Saughton - YMS
Portobello - YPR
Southside - YSS
Broomhouse - YBT

There is hundreds more, i'de say every area has a gang. The gangs are getting younger and younger but most are all teenagers and some are as old as 20+ running about the streets with knifes, swords, guns, baseball bats and golf clubs.. and i have witnessed this in Pilton. Some gangs are 'in for each other' as they would say, meaning that if one gang was fighting then another gang would join them to fight against a diffrent gang.

If you need to know any thing else about Edinburgh gangs then just ask, I'm sure ill be able to answer all your questions as i am also part of a gang.

Theres the YLT, Young Leith Team.

Most of these arent really gangs as such anymore, regardless of what some people will tell you - there are hardly big gangs running amok around edinburgh .

Mostly guys about 14 . Anybody older shoud really know better.

I grew up in Leith in the 70s and 80s and the YLT was something people wrote on walls. By that stage they didnt really exist except in a few halfwits heads.

Its not like they have meetings and a clubhouse !

whoever mentioned the hellfire club, I think you are a bit confused. This was an 18th Century gentlemens society, as are some of the other ones you mention.