 In the 1950s,
there was almost full employment in Glasgow. As Billy puts it, the school
gates opened and the shipyard gates opened, and the men spilled from one
to the other.
But when Billy left St. Gerard's in 1957, he did not go directly
to the massive shipyard employers. At fifteen, he was still too young to
get a man's job, so he took up employment with John Smith's Bookshop in
St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, a shop which still thrives. He was a bicycle
delivery boy, but was sacked when he was blamed in an incident of missing
books. To this day, Billy swears his innocence. Being the lowest employee
meant that the buck stopped with him.
He then went to work as a delivery van boy with Bilsland's Bread,
where he stayed until he was just sixteen.
At sixteen, he became eligible to begin an apprenticeship. He
applied to Stephen's yard to become an engineer. But his J1 and J2 certificates
overqualified him for the job, and he became a welder instead.
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| 'And they were choosing middle-class guys, guys who'd obviously
come from grammar-type schools, and they were becoming engineers. But I
became a welder, and I'm glad. Because I think if I'd become an engineer,
I would have gone to sea, and that would have been the end of that, or
I'd probably now be working up on the oil rigs as an engineer. But I became
a welder, and I loved it, because they called us the Black Squad, the welders,
cokers, platers, riveters, and other guys that get dirty. I loved their
company, and their patter was great. I loved working in the shipyards very
much.' |
| It was the heyday of shipbuilding in Glasgow, with six ships in Stephen's
yard alone, the day Billy joined in 1960 and began his five year apprenticeship
as a welder. Billy appeared to enjoy his work, and the joking and patter
among the lads and older men. Some of the older men were ruthless with
apprentices, with the usual tricks of left-handed screwdrivers and tartan
paint.
The humour was cruel, but it taught Billy the art of combative
humour, and how to take being the butt of jokes like a man. In the cold,
hard life of the yard, when the big gates closed behind, many scams went
on, and Billy remembers making the mould of a coin, which he would then
freeze water in. A quick insertion into a cigarette machine would yield
results, but also a puzzling puddle soon after.
 Billy's foreman
was Sammy Boyd, but the two biggest influences on him were the older men
Jimmy Lucas and Bobby Dalgleish. In later years, they called Billy a beatnik
for a laugh, because of his hippy-like ways. Billy would often listen to
their monologues and jokes about the human anatomy and the misfortunes
of people. When Billy played Greenock in 1994, he gave them both the best
seats in the house, paid tribute to them during the performance, and took
them out for a Chinese meal after the show. Over the years, Billy has played
down the influences of the shipyard in the development of his comedy, but
however big a part it played, Jimmy and Bobby were the key men.
 It was during
this time that Billy joined the Parachute regiment of the Territorial Army,
seeking adventure, and trying to make himself windswept and interesting.
Billy claims that at the medical examination, the doctor remarked 'You're
not very big downstairs, are you?' to which Billy quipped 'I thought
we were only going to fight them'. During his time there, he completed
seventeen parachute jumps.
Though Billy had been toying with the mouth organ up to this time,
he began to take a serious interest in the banjo. Thus he began drifting
into the muscial world.
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