THERE was a march and there was face painting - if the revolution ever comes to Glasgow it will be accompanied by a wee boy looking like a tiger.

On Sunday it was the May Day march and rally in Glasgow when hundreds of trade unionists and kindred spirits walked behind banners and pipers from George Square to the O2 Academy at Gorbals to mark international workers' day and to express solidarity in the struggle to give workers around the world decent rights.

I say solidarity, but of course it wouldn't be the left wing of British politics without there being more splits than a troupe of Busby Berkeley dancers could manage. Even marching on Sunday caused disagreement as the Glasgow Anarchist Federation argued the rally should be on the traditional day of May 1 irrespective of what day of the week it is. "We believe it should be celebrated on May Day, not some convenient day that won't upset commerce," said a spokesman for the anarchists, who held their own rally last Thursday in Glasgow's city centre, where the numbers attending did not cause any inconvenience at all.

No, Sunday was the big day, although for traditionalists it was a pity that the rally was not at Glasgow Green where it has been for years, or even Queen's Park, the previous venue. Sadly the numbers nowadays do not justify the expense of numerous marquees being erected on the Green. Instead the O2 Academy, a former cinema and bingo hall would do. Yes there was still face painting to satisfy the marchers who brought their children, and the bar was open which is also a tradition as comrades who have not seen each other for a year, catch up for a pint. At the May Day rally a fallen comrade is someone who stays too long at the beer bar, not someone who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

There were petitions - there are always petitions - book stalls, so that you can read up on previous revolutionaries such as John Maclean and Rosa Luxemburg, and T-shirts. One T-shirt quoted the late Communist firebrand and latterly Labour councillor in Glasgow Agnes McLean: "It's time men realised we are more than sex symbols, incubators or dishwashers."

But the chap wearing the T-shirt stating "Never kissed a Tory" - is he to be praised for his politics, or condemned for being sexist? It can be confusing. I mean there was a stall about Venezuela. I've lost track of South American politics. Are we for or against the government there? No wonder lefties take a pint.

In previous years at Glasgow Green the by-laws meant you could buy a pint in the beer tent but you couldn't then take it across to the tent where the speakers were, which caused much confusion. The complex licensing laws of Glasgow were probably not explained to Daniel Ortega, revolutionary president of Nicaragua, who caused excitement in Glasgow 25 years ago by coming to speak at the rally while en route to a meeting in London with Prime Minister Thatcher.

A bit shorter than Che Guevara, he nevertheless was still a striking presence, wearing, if memory still functions correctly, an olive green battledress with no insignia or medals as a contrast presumably to the dictators of the world who award themselves chest-loads of medals. He also had a strikingly attractive revolutionary wife with him who was also well received. He spoke of the Nicaraguans and the Scots waging the same battle for independence and solidarity which would have gone down a treat with some if he had been in Glasgow this year. Or at least we think that's what he said as he spoke for a very long time in Spanish and we had to rely on his interpreter. Could just have been complaining about the beer tent rules for all we knew.

This year the speaker was young writer and commentator Owen Jones who might not have the charisma of Ortega but is at least funnier. There was a school choir too, and although the teenagers' rendition of Life is a Cabaret might not be the normal song of revolution its spirited opening line of "What use is sitting alone in your room?" is a call for solidarity of sorts.

One year at the Green, folk singer Dick Gaughan was the star turn. Now Dick really is a wonderful singer and you should go and see him if you have the chance, but on occasion he can cast a bit of a gloom by dwelling on the folk songs that mark various mining disasters and industrial accidents over the years. One union leader tried to lighten the mood by running a book on the total number of people who died in Dick's songs that afternoon. Dick must have wondered why he had such an attentive audience following every word.

Thanks to Kevin Buchanan at the Scottish Trades Union Congress who sent me film clips of previous rallies, I was able to see footage of the pre-war May Day rally in Glasgow when there was even a cycling club in shorts and wheeling their bikes taking part. The film in 1960 showed American singer Paul Robeson leading the rally. Impressed to see the boisterous teenagers behind the Clyde Apprentices banner were all wearing shirts and ties.

There were collections of tins and packets of food at the start of the rally for families in need, but sadly that was not in the old black-and-white newsreels of long ago but in Glasgow's George Square on Sunday.

Standing up for the poor and oppressed is still needed today, shameful to say, no matter how old fashioned the banners and marches might look.