Harry Lauder

This article is about Scottish singer & comic. For American actor, see Harry Lauter.

Lauder in 1909

Sir Henry Lauder (/ˈlɔːdər/; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)[1] was a Scottish singer and comedian popular in both music hall and vaudeville theatre traditions; he achieved international success.

He was described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador",[2][3][4] who "... by his inspiring songs and valiant life, rendered measureless service to the Scottish race and to the British Empire."[5] He became a familiar worldwide figure promoting images like the kilt and the cromach (walking stick) to huge acclaim, especially in America. Among his most popular songs were "Roamin' in the Gloamin'", "A Wee Deoch-an-Doris", "The End of the Road" and, a particularly big hit for him, "I Love a Lassie".

Lauder's understanding of life, its pathos and joys, earned him his popularity.[6] Beniamino Gigli commended his singing voice and clarity. Lauder usually performed in full Highland regalia—kilt, sporran, tam o' shanter, and twisted walking stick, and sang Scottish-themed songs.[7]

By 1911 Lauder had become the highest-paid performer in the world, and was the first British artist to sell a million records; by 1928 he had sold double that.[8] He raised vast amounts of money for the war effort during the First World War, for which he was knighted in 1919. He went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s, but briefly emerged to entertain troops in the Second World War. By the late 1940s he was suffering from long periods of ill-health. He died in Scotland in 1950.

  1. ^ Russell, Dave. "Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Sir Harry Lauder: 1870–1950". University of Glasgow. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Sir Harry Lauder". Time. 10 March 1930. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  4. ^ Lauder-Frost, Gregory. "Biographical Notes on Sir Harry Lauder". Electric Scotland. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  5. ^ Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War – Volume III, p. 530
  6. ^ James Douglas (1909). Adventures in London. Cassell, limited. p. 158. It is a mistake to imagine that gloom is unpopular, and that pathos is unprofitable......I have no doubt that Martin Harvey and Harry Lauder work on the same nerve......The one makes you feel funnily un-comfortable, and the other makes you feel un-comfortably funny.
  7. ^ Albert David Mackie (1973). The Scotch comedians, from the music hall to television. Ramsay Head Press. p. 34. Lauder's stage character — the little man in the kilt with the Balmoral, Kilmarnock or Tam o' Shanter bonnet, the long sporran, and the twisted walking-stick — was largely the product of Victorian sentimentalisation of the Highlander
  8. ^ The Daily Examiner, Grafton, New South Wales, 1 December 1928, p. 8, citing Sir Harry himself.