First Gazette of Great War gives great insight

The popular myth goes that, like all Britons, the people of Clydesdale bravely faced the coming war with quiet, calm determination.

In fact, the first reports indicate that, in Lanark at least, the reaction verged on near panic!

Our edition published four days after the official declaration of war shows that there was a near-hysterical rush to the shops to buy up just about anything edible and the town traders didn’t take long to cash in on this orgy of food hoarding.

We reported - with surprisingly little criticism - that less than a week into the conflict, the price of sugar in Lanark shops had more than doubled; the price of the other main target for those fearing sudden starvation, flour, shot up almost as much.