Harry Lauder
Sir Henry Lauder (1870–1950), usually nicknamed “Harry”, was a Scottish singer, comic, and entertainer and perhaps one of the first international “superstars”.
Harry Lauder came from very modest circumstances in Edinburgh and had to go to work part-time very early in his life in order to raise his school fees by helping out in a flax mill. At 13, he won first prize as a singer at a concert in Arbroath (a watch). Later he worked as a coal miner, but also performed before his colleagues, which eventually became a lucrative side hustle and later his main gig: He joined a travelling concert troupe and went with them to the music halls of Scotland and Northern England, focusing his repertoire on comedy routines and songs from Scotland and Ireland. In 1900 he started performing in London, where he toned down his heavy Scots dialect because audiences in the metropolis did not care for it.
Harry Lauder started writing his own songs, and at this point nothing could stand between him and success. He changed from music halls to variety theatre and, in 1907, toured America. In 1908 he gave a private performance for king Edward VII, and in 1911 he returned to the USA, where he commanded a fee of $1000 per night – a very considerable amount of money at the time. This made him the highest-paid stage artist in the world. During his 40-year career, Harry Lauder undertook numerous tours abroad, including 22 times to the USA, but also several times to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa. In WWI he entertained the troops and founded a charitable foundation to take care of Scottish soldiers and sailors who had been wounded in action. This earned him the “Sir” in 1919. In 1918 he appeared in a short film with Charlie Chaplin. He retired in 1935, but performed briefly for the troops during WWII, mostly by radio broadcast (together with the BBC’s Scottish Symphony Orchestra). Sir Harry Lauder died in 1950, aged 79 years, in his house,
Lauder Ha’
, in Strathaven, south of Hamilton in South Lanarkshire.
From “Anselm's Notes on Dances”, by Anselm Lingnau
(Used by permission.)
The Waggle o' the Kilt
Sir Harry Lauder (1870–1950), the great Scottish entertainer, penned most of his songs himself, including such favourites as
Roamin’ in the Gloamin’
or
I Love a Lassie
, but of course also
The Waggle o’ the Kilt
, which became the basis of
James B Cosh
's dance. Here’s an excerpt from the lyrics:
I’ll never forget the day I went and join’d the “Ninety third”
The chums I used to run with said they thought I look’d absurd.
As they saluted me, and gather’d round me in a ring,
And as I wagg’d my tartan kilt they a’ began to sing -
Chorus
He’s a braw, braw Hielan’ laddie, Private Jock McDade.
There’s not anither sodger like him in the Scotch Brigade.
Rear’d amang the heather, you can see he’s Scottish built,
By the wig, wig, wiggle, wiggle, waggle o’ the kilt.
(And so on.) Sir Harry himself used to perform in full highland regalia including the kilt, sporran, tam o’ shanter (flat woolen hat), and corkscrew-shaped hiking stick.
From “Anselm's Notes on Dances”, by Anselm Lingnau
(Used by permission.)