The mean streets of Glasgow circa the late 1800s are the stuff of legend, and many a tale has been told about the gangs and ne'er-do-wells who roamed those narrow streets and alleyways looking for an easy mark.
The maze-like streets may seem like something Hollywood made up, but these old photos taken by Thomas Annan show the Glasgow streets really were as claustrophobic and sketchy as the movies make them out to be.
Thomas opened a photo studio on Sauchiehall Street in 1857, and a few years later he was asked to photograph the Glasgow slums before the Glasgow City Improvement Trust began urban renewal.
The compelling street photos shot by Thomas from 1868 to 1877 were published in a book called Old Closes And Streets Of Glasgow, which is now considered important historical documentation of old Glasgow.
See more Incredible Photographs Of The Old Closes And Streets Of Glasgow here