Sir Harry Lauder: "The Laird of The Music Hall."

[Calgacus]

I am too young to remember him but I can confirm that he was less than universally loved by my older relatives, as Jock relates.

As for Winston Churchill's comment, all I can say is that it is well to remember that he had an acid wit!

[John_Carrick]

I understand Sir Harry was a very nice chap when off the stage, but his "cringe factor" when on the stage has left an everlasting scar on many a Scots memory, including mine.

Which may account for him living in London. I used to live next to his old house in SW17, which bears a blue plaque.

Popular entertainers don't often seem to travel down the generations as well as other art forms like jazz or paintings.

[O'Callaghan]

My Glaswegian father couldn't stand him for that very reason. He felt that Lauder demeaned the Scots of his generation by presenting to the world a comical, music hall image of his fellow Scots. I wasn't around to have first-hand knowledge of it, but my father always claimed that Harry Lauder was much less popular in Scotland than he was elsewhere. Mind you, I grew up listening to ex-pat Scots after a few whiskies singing Harry Lauder songs, such as "I Belong to Glasgow" and "Stop Yer Ticklin', Jock". Could be that Harry Lauder, by evoking a strong feeling of nostalgia, was more popular with ex-pats than with the Scots at home.

I don't associate him with I Belong To Glasgow. That was written and performed by Will Fyfe. Here it is:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oww8HXLsxDw

(strange animation added to a still of Will Fyfe to make his lips move!)

[MacEanruig]

It has been interesting to learn the true feelings that many Scots had for Lauder. I found this post from 2000 that looks back on Harry's life:http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/...ormer-1.247353.

[AFS1970]

I also have some of his 78's that were my mother's. I think most of them are one sided records, and quite a bit thicker than the vinyl discs of my time. It makes me remember what the C in CD really stands for.