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The Waggle o' the Kilt
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Other Artistes
The exhibition has to a certain extent focussed on the figure of Harry Lauder, but it would be very wrong to assume that he was Scotland's only great popular entertainer, or that he was the only one to use the kilted image. Lauder was undoubtedly the best known outwith Scotland, but home names such as Harry Gordon, Will Fyffe, Tommy Lorne, Tommy Morgan and W F Frame filled the theatres and kept the audiences laughing.
W F Frame
He was billed as 'The Man U Know', made his first music-hall appearance at the Scotia in Stockwell Street, Glasgow in 1867 and went on to tour his own company around Scotland. In 1898 he toured America.
Will Fyffe
Fyffe was born in Dundee and began his career in his father's penny- geggies. There was always some patter in the middle of his songs, and he was known for his character studies, such as the old man about to remarry in I'm Ninety Four Today, the drunk in his famous song I Belong to Glasgow, or poor 'Deft Sandy'.
Harry Gordon
Famous as the Laird of Inversnecky, the fictitious village whose inhabitants provided endless mirth and character sketches. Gordon also worked with his 'feed', Jack Holden, and his pantomime partnership with Will Fyffe was very successful.
Tommy Lorne
He was born Hugh Corcoran, but like many artists used a stage name. Originally he had wanted to use 'Tom E Lorne' but a bill printer mistook this over the phone and he became Tommy Lome instead. He was tall and thin and accentuated his natural clownishness with white make-up, boots that were too large for him, a jacket which was too short, white gloves, kilt and glengarry bonnet. His voice was high-pitched and he made tremendous use of short phrases such as "In the name!"
Tommy Morgan
His catchphrase was "Clairty, Clairty!", a shortened version of his mother's phrase "Clare to goodness!", and it became his nickname as well. One of his best known characters was "Big Beenie, the GI Bride".
This is just a small sample of what was on offer to the Scottish public. Whether an act revolved round songs or sketches, the performers bad a wide variety of characters they were well able to depict. They not only worked in the music-balls and theatres, but also in the summer entertainments at the seaside resorts, in Howard and Wyndham's famous summer "Five Past Eight" shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and, of course, in pantomime. There are many other well-known names such as Neil Kenyon, with his stories and monologues like "The Postie of Dunrobin'"; Davie Willis with his Chaplinesque moustache and cheeky impersonations of Gandhi and Hitler; kilted entertainers such as Alec Finlay and Andy Stewart; comics like Lex McLean, Walter Carr and Stanley Baxter; famous families like the Logans. The list could go on and on.
It should also be remembered that there were many hundreds of acts who worked the halls for years, but whose names have faded somewhat. Acts like the musical comedians Wood and Frayne; Tony Walsh, the 'Vocal and Juggling Comedian'; the Davenports, who toured with W F Frame: or Leo Curtis the conjuror. Their names were on bills and programmes all over the country. In the Scottish Theatre Archive's Logan Collection there are postcards of many of these entertainers, either pictures of themselves or their printed 'vacancy postcards', which they would fill in and send back to their agents. These cards, recording for example that an act might be in Aberdeen one week, Glasgow the next and 'available' after that, highlight the difficult life of a touring entertainer who was constantly on the move, living in lodgings and out of suitcases. Although the contracts record what might seem to be comparatively high wages, the act would be required to pay all their own transport and accommodation costs, as well as having the expense of providing costumes and band parts for their songs. Such overheads could use up a large part of their fee. Acts could also tour as part of a 'Roadshow', usually headed and produced by a well-known comic, where the company would provide the complete programme at theatres all over the country. The contracts and letters relating to the Harry Lauder Roadshow of 1935 are a typical example.The company was made up of Lauder himself; the Rego Twins ("Comedy at its highest"); The Rhythm Kings ("Modern Entertainers"); Doris Ashton ("Paramount Star Vocalist"); Frank Boston ("Royal Command Performance"); and Billie and Matt ("The Famous Piano Accordionists"). Salaries varied, with Lauder receiving 50% of the gross door receipts, Doris Ashton and Frank Boston each getting £20 per week, the Rego Twins £25, Billie and Matt £17, and the Two Rhythm Kings only receiving £14 between them. It was a hierarchical world.
Walford Bodie, M D
One of the most amazing show-men was the Great Dr Walford Bodie. His very appearance, with his upturned moustache, monocle and aristocratic posturing, highlighted his flamboyant self-confidence. He was billed as the 'Master of Electricity', the 'Bloodless Surgeon', the 'Modern Miracle Worker', and the 'Most Remarkable Man on Earth'! His act consisted of him 'curing' patients, mainly suffering from paralysis, by a combination of hypnosis (using Bodic Force), manipulation (which he called Bloodless Surgery), and by passing an electric current through his own body and into the patient. Bodies book of 'Valuable Prescriptions' was available for two shillings and sixpence, the All Blacks endorsed his Electric Liniment Rub, and you could even visit Bodies Health Spa. He warned that thousands of people were being buried alive every year, and also claimed to have telepathic powers. He often worked with a young female assistant, known by such names as 'Beautiful Mystic Marie' and 'La Belle Electra'. Not everyone believed in his powers. or even in his degrees. When challenged Bodie revealed that he got his PhD by correspondence and that MD stood for 'Merry Devil'! Medical students rioted at his show in the Glasgow Colliseum in November 1909, and he lost a much publicised court case. As electricity became less of a novelty he toured his own variety show around the country.