A PALACE of unbridled optimism and broken dreams. Camelot? I was talking about the City Chambers. But let's not be snide, there's plenty of evidence to back up Glasgow's claim to Merlin the Weegie wizard.

A PALACE of unbridled optimism and broken dreams. Camelot? I was talking about the City Chambers. But let's not be snide, there's plenty of evidence to back up Glasgow's claim to Merlin the Weegie wizard.

Look at the North Rotunda . . . spot-on for a round table - and the grub ain't bad either. Sword in the Stone? Well, there was a tiny error in translating the ancient scrolls: it should read: Sword in the Stoned, usually after another weekend of mayhem.

As for the mythical magician living prosperously in Partick, well it so happens I took a stroll along Dumbarton Road a couple of weeks back and from what I saw it's not so far-fetched.

Sure Glasgow has home-grown heroes and a few of them are even listed on the council's website but they're hardly world class: Lorraine Kelly? East Kilbride - although Glasgow-overspill probably counts.

Donald Meek? Star of a hundred Hollywood movies. Now name one!

Billy Connolly? Working class hero gone over to the dark side.

Gregor Fisher? His family didn't hang about in the city too long after he was born.

And Sir Alex Ferguson? Well his link with Govan is so old hat he could wear it and still look fashionable.

Going further back there's Charles Rennie Mackintosh who made a fair stab at a couple of buildings but never designed a bit of jewellery in his puff.

For a city with such a vibrant past, it seems a shame the message isn't really getting through in the present.

So, why not take a leaf from the Book of Merlin. What the city needs is a few fresh faces to lure tourists: names that resonate through history, and ready-made attractions crying out for open-top bus tours.

Like Wyatt Earp.

I have it on very good authority he came from Possil and wasn't so much lawman as gunslinger. Check out the Gunfight at Saracen Cross. . . but not too closely since crossfire can be dangerous.

Or how about Bonnie and Clyde?

Look no further than Strathclyde Park, a little outside the city to be sure, but they were notorious for their harem-scarem drives round the loch with the law in hot pursuit - re-enactments are held every weekend.

Arthur Conan Doyle might have come from Edinburgh yet his creation, Sherlock Holmes, must have been a Glasgow boy.

Holmes' addictions are the giveaway and his descendants can still be found looking for a seven percent solution on many Glasgow street corners.

There are plenty more: Robin Hood who stole mobile phones from the rich to sell to the poor. Sweeney Todd, the meanest chibber on Sauchiehall Street.

And Lulu who could break glass at 30 yards . . . oh, sorry. You couldn't make her up.