110-476: Sir Henry Lauder ( / ˈ l ɔː d ər / ; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950) 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", who "... by his inspiring songs and valiant life, rendered measureless service to the Scottish race and to
220-769: A breed commonly used because of their small size, but Welsh , Russian, Devonshire ( Dartmoor ) and Cornish ponies also saw extensive use in England. In the interwar period , ponies were imported into Britain from the Faroe Islands , Iceland and the United States . Geldings and stallions only were used. Donkeys were also used in the late 19th century, and in the United States , large numbers of mules were used. Regardless of breed, typical mining ponies were low set, heavy bodied and heavy limbed with plenty of bone and substance, low-headed and sure-footed. Under
330-819: A British coal mine , "Robbie", was retired from Pant y Gasseg, near Pontypool , in May 1999. The last pony mine in the US, located near Centerville, Iowa , closed in 1971. The last pit ponies used in Australia, Wharrier and Mr Ed of the Collinsville Coal's No 2 Mine in Queensland, were retired in 1990. Larger horses, such as varieties of Cleveland Bay , could be used on higher underground roadways, but on many duties small ponies no more than 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) high were needed. Shetlands were
440-605: A Lassie , A Wee Deoch-an-Doris , and Keep Right On To The End of the Road , which is used by Birmingham City Football Club as their club anthem. He starred in three British films: Huntingtower (1927), Auld Lang Syne (1929) and The End of the Road (1936). He also appeared in a test film for the Photokinema sound-on-disc process in 1921. This film is part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive collection; however,
550-638: A brief visit on 25 July. Lauder departed Sydney for the USA on board the liner SS Ventura on Saturday 27 July 1929, a ship he was familiar with. In 1934–5, his brother John spent 10 months with him in Scotland. Sir Harry Lauder's 1925 reception in South Africa has never been equalled in that country. En route to Australia, he and his wife arrived in Cape Town at Easter. Over twenty thousand people had lined
660-541: A cinema. The building was badly damaged in the Second World War, and was demolished in 1950. In 1867, he acquired a public house in Villiers Street named "The Arches", under the arches of the elevated railway line leading to Charing Cross station. He opened it as another music hall, known as " Gatti's-in-The-Arches ". After his death his family continued to operate the music hall, known for a period as
770-546: A decade. On 8 January 1910, the Glasgow Evening Times reported that Lauder had told the New York World that, during his mining career: I was entombed once for 6 long hours. It seemed like 6 years. There were no visible means of getting out either – we had just to wait. I was once right next to a cave-in when my fire boss was buried alive. As we were working and chatting a big stone twice as big as
880-512: A large hall with tables at which drink was served, changed to that of a drink-free auditorium . The acceptance of music hall as a legitimate cultural form was established by the first Royal Variety Performance before King George V during 1912 at the Palace Theatre. However, consistent with this new respectability the best-known music hall entertainer of the time, Marie Lloyd , was not invited, being deemed too "saucy" for presentation to
990-552: A military recruitment drive. In the guise of characters like 'Tommy in the Trench' and 'Jack Tar Home from Sea', Tilley performed songs such as "The army of today's all right" and "Jolly Good Luck to the Girl who Loves a Soldier". This is how she got the nickname Britain's best recruiting sergeant – young men were sometimes asked to join the army on stage during her show. She also performed in hospitals and sold war bonds . Her husband
1100-698: A million dollars worth of bonds for Canada's Victory Loan . Through his efforts in organising concerts and fundraising appeals he established the charity, the Harry Lauder Million Pound Fund, for maimed Scottish soldiers and sailors, to help servicemen return to health and civilian life; and he was knighted in May 1919 for Empire service during the War. After the First World War, Lauder continued to tour variety theatre circuits. In January 1918, he famously visited Charlie Chaplin , and
1210-445: A mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within pubs during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during
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#17327757964701320-584: A music hall song consists of a series of verses sung by the performer alone, and a repeated chorus which carries the principal melody, and in which the audience is encouraged to join. Pit pony A pit pony , otherwise known as a mining horse , was a horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground. The first known recorded use of ponies underground in Great Britain
1430-832: A separate bar-room. Major music halls were based around London. Early examples included: the Canterbury Music Hall in Lambeth , Wilton's Music Hall in Tower Hamlets , and The Middlesex in Drury Lane , otherwise known as the Old Mo. By the mid-19th century, the halls cried out for many new and catchy songs. As a result professional songwriters were enlisted to provide the music for a plethora of star performers, such as Marie Lloyd , Dan Leno , Little Tich , and George Leybourne . All manner of other entertainment
1540-549: A show called La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées . She became an immediate success for her erotic dancing , and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she returned to France to star at the Folies Bergère . Baker performed the 'Danse sauvage,' wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. The music-halls suffered growing hardships in
1650-449: A trunk came tumbling down on my mate from overhead, doubling him like a jack-knife. It squeezed his face right down on the floor. God knows I wasn't strong enough to lift that rock alone, but by superhuman efforts I did. This gave him a chance to breathe and then I shouted. Some men 70 yards away heard me and came and got him out alive. A chap who worked beside me was killed along with 71 others at Udston, and all they could identify him with
1760-564: A young Elsecar Collieries mine worker, John William Bell of Wentworth, the Fitzwilliam Medal for Kindness for an act of bravery that saved the life of his equine workmate. Bell's story of staying behind while his human workmates were able to escape through a small opening, to ensure that the pony would have a chance of rescue, became a successful tool for the Countess in promoting pit pony rights. Bell died on 27 March 1910, when he
1870-505: Is credited with giving the then 21-year-old portrait artist Cowan Dobson his opening into society by commissioning him, in 1915, to paint his portrait. This was considered to be so outstanding that another commission came the following year, to paint his son Captain John Lauder, and again another commission in 1921 to paint Lauder's wife, the latter portrait being after the style of John Singer Sargent . These three portraits remain with
1980-493: Is dying, and with it, a significant part of England. Some of the heart of England has gone; something that once belonged to everyone, for this was truly a folk art. Moss Empires , the largest British music hall chain, closed the majority of its theatres in 1960, closely followed by the death of music hall stalwart Max Miller in 1963, prompting one contemporary to write that: "Music-halls ... died this afternoon when they buried Max Miller". Miller himself had sometimes said that
2090-564: Is one of the very greatest countries in the world." Lauder was next in Australia (with his wife and her mother) in 1919, arriving at Sydney on 1 March on board the Oceanic Steamship Company 's liner S.S. Ventura , from San Francisco , and he was in situ at the Hotel Australia when he was formally notified that he was to be knighted upon his return to Britain. His next visit was in 1923 when his brother John
2200-726: The Alhambra (1866), the first to be called a music hall, and the Olympia (1893). The Printania (1903) was a music-garden, open only in summer, with a theater, restaurant, circus, and horse-racing. Older theaters also transformed themselves into music halls, including the Bobino (1873), the Bataclan (1864), and the Alcazar (1858). At the beginning, music halls offered dance reviews, theater and songs, but gradually songs and singers became
2310-569: The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra . Possibly Lauder's strongest connections were with Australia. Both Lauder, his wife and son, brother Matt and his wife, were all in Australia when World War I broke out. Their brother John had already emigrated, about 1906, to Kurri Kurri (and, later, Newcastle ), New South Wales, and Matt's eldest son John would also emigrate there in 1920. Lauder wrote that "every time I return to Australia I am filled with genuine enthusiasm.....it
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#17327757964702420-545: The Champs-Élysées , was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Leplée taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to wear a black dress, which became her trademark apparel. Leplée ran an intense publicity campaign leading up to her opening night, attracting the presence of many celebrities, including Maurice Chevalier. Her nightclub appearance led to her first two records produced that same year, and
2530-714: The City Road in east London. According to John Hollingshead , proprietor of the Gaiety Theatre, London (originally the Strand Music Hall), this establishment was "the father and mother, the dry and wet nurse of the Music Hall". Later known as the Grecian Theatre, it was here that Marie Lloyd made her début at the age of 14 in 1884. It is still famous because of an English nursery rhyme, with
2640-749: The Coal Hole in The Strand , the Cyder Cellars in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden and the Mogul Saloon in Drury Lane . The music hall as we know it developed from such establishments during the 1850s and were built in and on the grounds of public houses. Such establishments were distinguished from theatres by the fact that in a music hall you would be seated at a table in the auditorium and could drink alcohol and smoke tobacco whilst watching
2750-773: The Cowal peninsula in Argyll on the 13 October 1916, then sold it to the Forestry Commission in 1921. The estate later became part of the Argyll Forest Park established in 1935. The Invernoaden Estate house, in Glenbranter was demolished in 1956. Freemasonry He was initiated a Freemason on 28 January 1897 in Lodge Dramatic, No. 571, ( Glasgow , Scotland) and remained an active Freemason for
2860-615: The Cremorne Gardens . These latter became subject to urban development and became fewer and less popular. From the mid-19th century music halls spread to the provincial cities, such as Bristol. The saloon was a room where for an admission fee or a greater price at the bar, singing, dancing, drama or comedy was performed. The most famous London saloon of the early days was the Grecian Saloon , established in 1825, at The Eagle (a former tea-garden), 2 Shepherdess Walk, off
2970-525: The Howard & Wyndham pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow , for which he wrote I Love a Lassie , made him a national star, and he obtained contracts with Sir Edward Moss and others. Lauder then made a switch from music hall to variety theatre and undertook a tour of America in 1907. The following year, he performed a private show before Edward VII at Sandringham , and in 1911, he again toured
3080-736: The Lord Provost of Edinburgh hosted a luncheon at the Edinburgh City Chambers to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Lauder receiving the Freedom of the City . On 4 August 2001 Gregory Lauder-Frost opened the Sir Harry Lauder Memorial Garden at Portobello Town Hall . BBC 2 Scotland broadcast a documentary, Something About Harry , on 30 November 2005. On 29 September 2007, Lauder-Frost rededicated
3190-646: The Metropolitan Board of Works and London County Council , and because of commercial competition between popular large suburban halls and the smaller venues, which put the latter out of business. A few of the UK's music halls have survived and have retained many of their original features. Among the best examples are: A new era of variety theatre was developed by the rebuilding of the London Pavilion in 1885. Contemporary accounts noted: Hitherto
3300-450: The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 to Parliament which barred women, girls and boys under 10 (later amended to 13) from working underground, leading to the widespread use of horses and ponies in mining in England, though child labour lingered on to varying extents until finally eliminated by a variety of factors including further laws, improved inspection regimes, and changing economics. In
3410-668: The Palace Theatre of Varieties , managed by Charles Morton . Denied by the newly created LCC permission to construct the promenade, which was such a popular feature of the Empire and Alhambra, the Palace compensated in the way of adult entertainment by featuring apparently nude women in tableaux vivants , though the concerned LCC hastened to reassure patrons that the girls who featured in these displays were actually wearing flesh-toned body stockings and were not naked at all. One of
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3520-547: The United States , mules outnumbered ponies in mines. The use of ponies was never common in the US, though ponies were used in Appalachian coal fields in the mid-20th century. The British Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887 ( 50 & 51 Vict. c. 58) presented the first national legislation to protect horses working underground. Due to pressure from the National Equine Defense League (formerly
3630-526: The 'Old Mo', it was built on the site of the Mogul Saloon. Later converted into a theatre it was demolished in 1965. The New London Theatre stands on its site. Several large music halls were built in the East End . These included the London Music Hall, otherwise known as The Shoreditch Empire, 95–99 Shoreditch High Street , (1856–1935). This theatre was rebuilt during 1894 by Frank Matcham ,
3740-424: The 1850s a distinct musical style. Subject matter became more contemporary and humorous, and accompaniment was provided by larger house-orchestras, as increasing affluence gave the lower classes more access to commercial entertainment, and to a wider range of musical instruments, including the piano. The consequent change in musical taste from traditional to more professional forms of entertainment, arose in response to
3850-404: The 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food and alcohol and smoke tobacco in the auditorium while the entertainment took place, with the cheapest seats located in the gallery. This differed from the conventional type of theatre, which seats the audience in stalls with
3960-576: The 1930s. The Olympia was converted into a movie theater, and others closed. Others however continued to thrive. In 1937 and 1930, the Casino de Paris presented shows with Maurice Chevalier , who had already achieved success as an actor and singer in Hollywood . In 1935, a twenty-year old singer named Édith Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle by nightclub owner Louis Leplée , whose club, Le Gerny, off
4070-712: The 1942 film Random Harvest , Greer Garson plays a member of a travelling troupe. She sings "She Is Ma Daisy" and tells jokes doing an impression of Lauder. Websites carry much of his material and the Harry Lauder Collection, amassed by entertainer Jimmy Logan , was bought for the nation and donated to the University of Glasgow . When the A199 Portobello bypass opened, it was named the Sir Harry Lauder Road . On 28 July 1987,
4180-502: The British Coal Mines Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5 . c. 50), ponies had to be four years old and work ready (shod and vet checked) before going underground. They could work until their twenties. In shaft mines , ponies were normally stabled underground and fed on a diet with a high proportion of chopped hay and maize , coming to the surface only during the colliery's annual holiday. In slope and drift mines,
4290-821: The British Empire." 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. 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. By 1911 Lauder had become
4400-502: The Burslem Golf Course & Club at Stoke-on-Trent , which had been formally opened exactly a century before by Harry Lauder. In the 1990s, samples of recordings of Lauder were used on two tracks recorded by the Scottish folk / dance music artist Martyn Bennett . The Corkscrew hazel ornamental cultivar of common hazel ( Corylus avellana 'Contorta') is sometimes known as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, in reference to
4510-615: The Casino de Paris in 1895, and continued to appear regularly in the 1920s and 1930s at the Folies Bergère , Moulin Rouge and Eldorado. Her risqué routines captivated Paris, and she became one of the most highly-paid and popular French entertainers of her time. One of the most popular entertainers in Paris during the period was the American singer Josephine Baker . Baker sailed to Paris, France. She first arrived in Paris in 1925 to perform in
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4620-639: The December 1916 death of his son on the Western Front ; Lauder led successful charity fundraising efforts, organised a recruitment tour of music halls and entertained troops in France with a piano. He travelled to Canada in 1917 on a fundraising exercise for the war, where, on 17 November he was guest-of-honour and speaker at the Rotary Club of Toronto Luncheon, when he raised nearly three-quarters of
4730-482: The Gloamin' (1928 autobiography), My Best Scotch Stories (1929), Wee Drappies (1931) and Ticklin' Talks (circa 1932). Lauder made his first recordings, resulting in nine selections, for the Gramophone & Typewriter company early in 1902. He continued to record for Gramophone until the middle of 1905, most recordings appearing on the Gramophone label, but others on Zonophone . He then recorded fourteen selections for Pathé Records June 1906. Two months later he
4840-434: The Hungerford or Gatti's Hungerford Palace of Varieties. It became a cinema in 1910, and the Players' Theatre in 1946. By 1865, there were 32 music halls in London seating between 500 and 5,000 people plus an unknown, but large, number of smaller venues. Numbers peaked in 1878, with 78 large music halls in the metropolis and 300 smaller venues. Thereafter numbers declined due to stricter licensing restrictions imposed by
4950-476: The London National Portrait Gallery (ref:NPG D2675). On 19 June 1891 Lauder married Ann, daughter of James Vallance, a colliery manager in Hamilton; their only son, Captain John Currie Lauder, was educated at the City of London School followed by a degree from Jesus College , Cambridge University . John became a captain in the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders , and was killed in action on 28 December 1916 at Pozières . Encouraged by Ann, Lauder returned to
5060-498: The Pit Ponies' Protection Society) founded in 1908 by animal and human rights advocate Francis Albert Cox (24 June 1862 – 25 May 1920) – and the Scottish Society to Promote Kindness to Pit Ponies; in 1911, a royal commission report was published, detailing conditions, which resulted in protective legislation. In 1904, the president of the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pit Ponies, Countess Maud Fitzwilliam , daughter of Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland , awarded
5170-419: The United States never performed on Sundays. Lady Lauder died on 31 July 1927, at 54, a week after surgery. She was buried next to her son's memorial in the private Lauder cemetery on the 14,000 acre Glenbranter estate in Argyll, where her parents would later join her. Lauder's niece, Margaret (1900–1966), subsequently became his secretary and companion until his death. Lauder bought the Glenbranter Estate on
5280-477: The United States where he commanded $ 1,000 a night. In 1912, he was top of the bill at Britain's first ever Royal Command Performance , in front of King George V , organised by Alfred Butt . Lauder undertook world tours extensively during his forty-year career, including 22 trips to the United States—for which he had his own railway train, the Harry Lauder Special, and made several trips to Australia , where his brother John had emigrated. Lauder was, at one time,
5390-419: The architect of the Hackney Empire . Another in this area was the Royal Cambridge Music Hall, 136 Commercial Street (1864–1936). Designed by William Finch Hill (the designer of the Britannia theatre in nearby Hoxton), it was rebuilt after a fire in 1898. The construction of Weston's Music Hall , High Holborn (1857), built up on the site of the Six Cans and Punch Bowl Tavern by the licensed victualler of
5500-412: The attention of an often jaded and unruly urban audience. In America, from the 1840s, Stephen Foster had reinvigorated folk song with the admixture of Negro spiritual to produce a new type of popular song. Songs like " Old Folks at Home " (1851) and " Oh, Dem Golden Slippers " (James Bland, 1879]) spread round the globe, taking with them the idiom and appurtenances of the minstrel song. Typically,
5610-456: The beginning of her career. Competition from movies and television largely brought an end to the Paris music hall. However, a few still flourish, with tourists as their primary audience. Major music halls include the Folies-Bergere , Crazy Horse Saloon , Casino de Paris , Olympia , and Moulin Rouge . The musical forms most associated with music hall evolved in part from traditional folk song and songs written for popular drama, becoming by
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#17327757964705720-501: The children to be with her family in Arbroath. To finance his education beyond age 11, Harry worked part-time at a flax mill. He made his first public appearance, singing, at a variety concert at Oddfellows' Hall in Arbroath when he was 13 years old, winning first prize for the night (a watch). In 1884 the family went to Hamilton, South Lanarkshire , to live with Isabella's brother, Alexander, who found Harry employment at Eddlewood Colliery at ten shillings per week; he kept this job for
5830-490: The crooked walking stick Lauder often carried. Music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era , beginning around 1850, through the Great War . It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved
5940-445: The death duties on this amounted to £207,581. After personal bequests to family totalling £27,000 the residue went to Margaret Lauder. Lauder's first command performance before Edward VII is satirised by Neil Munro in his Erchie Macpherson story "Harry and the King", first published in the Glasgow Evening News of 14 September 1908. In the 1941 film " Babes on Broadway ", Mickey Rooney, imitating Lauder, sings "She Is Ma Daisy." In
6050-547: The disc is missing. In 1914, Lauder appeared in 14 Selig Polyscope experimental short sound films. In 1907, he appeared in a short film singing "I Love a Lassie" for British Gaumont . The British Film Institute has several reels of what appears to be an unreleased film All for the Sake of Mary (c. 1920) co-starring Effie Vallance and Harry Vallance. He wrote a number of books, which ran into several editions, including Harry Lauder at Home and on Tour (1912), A Minstrel in France (1918), Between You and Me (1919), Roamin' in
6160-458: The family. The same year, Scottish artist James McBey painted another portrait of Lauder, today in the Glasgow Museums. In the tradition of the magazine Vanity Fair , there appeared numerous caricatures of Lauder. One is by Al Frueh (1880–1968) in 1911 and published in 1913 in the New York World magazine, another by Henry Mayo Bateman , now in London's National Gallery, and one of 1926 by Alick P.F.Ritchie, for Players Cigarettes, today in
6270-433: The feudal barons the Lauders of the Bass ; and his mother, Isabella Urquhart MacLeod née McLennan, was born in Arbroath to a family from the Black Isle . John and Isabella married on 26 August 1870. Lauder's father moved to Newbold, Derbyshire , in early 1882 to take up a job designing porcelain , but died on 20 April from pneumonia. Isabella, left with little more than John's life insurance proceeds of £15, moved with
6380-399: The first time in 1994, four pit ponies were brought out (no ponies were used there during the RJB Mining era). Of the four, two went to the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse and two went to Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter. The last surviving pony was Tony who died in 2011 aged 40 at the Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter. Probably the last colliery horse to work underground in
6490-500: The form of variety, and many music hall performers failed to make the transition. They were deemed old-fashioned, and with the closure of many halls, music hall entertainment ceased and modern-day variety began. Music-halls had their origins in 18th century London. They grew with the entertainment provided in the new style saloon bars of pubs during the 1830s. These venues replaced earlier semi-rural amusements provided by fairs and suburban pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall Gardens and
6600-425: The genre would die with him. Many music hall performers, unable to find work, fell into poverty; some did not even have a home, having spent their working lives living in digs between performances. Stage and film musicals, however, continued to be influenced by the music hall idiom, including Oliver! , Dr Dolittle and My Fair Lady . The BBC series The Good Old Days , which ran for thirty years, recreated
6710-488: The gramophone damaged its popularity greatly. It now had to compete with jazz , swing and big band dance music. Licensing restrictions also changed its character. In 1914, the London County Council (LCC) enacted that drinking be banished from the auditorium into a separate bar and, during 1923, the separate bar was abolished by parliamentary decree. The exemption of the theatres from this latter act prompted some critics to denounce this legislation as an attempt to deprive
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#17327757964706820-403: The grandest of these new halls was the Coliseum Theatre built by Oswald Stoll in 1904 at the bottom of St Martin's Lane . This was followed by the London Palladium (1910) in Argyll Street . Both were designed by the prolific Frank Matcham . As music hall grew in popularity and respectability, and as the licensing authorities exercised ever firmer regulation, the original arrangement of
6930-608: The halls had borne unmistakeable evidence of their origins, but the last vestiges of their old connections were now thrown aside, and they emerged in all the splendour of their new-born glory. The highest efforts of the architect, the designer and the decorator were enlisted in their service, and the gaudy and tawdry music hall of the past gave way to the resplendent "theatre of varieties" of the present day, with its classic exterior of marble and freestone, its lavishly appointed auditorium and its elegant and luxurious foyers and promenades brilliantly illuminated by myriad electric lights One of
7040-469: 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. 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. Lauder
7150-462: The highest-paid performer in the world, making the equivalent of £12,700 a night plus expenses. He was paid £1125 for an engagement at the Glasgow Pavilion Theatre in 1913 and was later considered by the press to earn one of the highest weekly salaries by a theatrical performer during the prewar period. In January 1914 he embarked on a tour that included the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada . The First World War broke out while Lauder
7260-503: The main attraction. Paris music halls all faced stiff competition in the interwar period from the most popular new form of entertainment, the cinema . They responded by offering more complex and lavish shows. In 1911, the Olympia had introduced the giant stairway as a set for its productions, an idea copied by other music halls. Gaby Deslys rose in popularity and created, with her dance partner Harry Pilcer , her most famous dance The Gaby Glide . The singer Mistinguett made her debut
7370-448: The main demands, including a minimum wage and maximum working week for musicians. Several music hall entertainers such as Marie Dainton , Marie Lloyd , Arthur Roberts , Joe Elvin and Gus Elen were strong advocates of the strike, though they themselves earned enough not to be concerned personally in a material sense. Lloyd explained her advocacy: We (the stars) can dictate our own terms. We are fighting not for ourselves, but for
7480-467: The mid-1950s, rock and roll , whose performers initially topped music hall bills, attracted a young audience who had little interest in the music hall acts, while driving the older audience away. The final demise was competition from television, which grew popular after the Queen's coronation was televised. Some music halls tried to retain an audience by putting on striptease acts. In 1957, the playwright John Osborne delivered this elegy: The music hall
7590-401: The mine. But I think I convinced him that the time has now arrived when something should be done by the law of the land to improve the lot and working conditions of the patient, equine slaves who assist so materially in carrying on the great mining industry of this country." At the peak of this practice in 1913, there were 70,000 ponies underground in Britain. In later years, mechanical haulage
7700-408: The monarchy. The development of syndicates controlling a number of theatres, such as the Stoll circuit, increased tensions between employees and employers. On 22 January 1907, a dispute between artists, stage hands and managers of the Holborn Empire worsened. Strikes in other London and suburban halls followed, organised by the Variety Artistes' Federation. The strike lasted for almost two weeks and
7810-399: The most famous of these new palaces of pleasure in the West End was the Empire, Leicester Square , built as a theatre in 1884 but acquiring a music hall licence in 1887. Like the nearby Alhambra this theatre appealed to the men of leisure by featuring alluring ballet dancers, and had a notorious promenade which was the resort of courtesans. Another spectacular example of the new variety theatre
7920-528: The music hall for the modern audience, and the Paul Daniels Magic Show allowed several speciality acts a television presence from 1979 to 1994. Aimed at a younger audience, but still owing a lot to the music hall heritage, was the late-1970s’ television series, The Muppet Show . The music hall was first imported into France in its British form in 1862, but under the French law protecting
8030-464: The new roles women were taking in society. Possibly the most notorious of music hall songs from the First World War was " Oh! It's a lovely war " ( 1917 ), popularised by male impersonator Ella Shields . Music hall continued during the interwar period , no longer the single dominant form of popular entertainment in Britain. The improvement of cinema, the development of radio, and the cheapening of
8140-469: The nineteenth century, the first purpose-built music halls were being built in London. The halls created a demand for new and catchy popular songs, that could no longer be met from the traditional folk song repertoire. Professional songwriters were enlisted to fill the gap. The emergence of a distinct music hall style can be credited to a fusion of musical influences. Music hall songs needed to gain and hold
8250-417: The only comedic performer to appear on the label primarily associated with operatic celebrities. Lauder is one of three artists shown on Victor's black, purple, blue and red Seal records (the others being Lucy Isabelle Marsh and Reinald Werrenrath ). His final recordings were made in 1940, but Lauder records were issued in the new format as current material when RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm record. Lauder
8360-418: The other. The halls had recovered by the start of the First World War and were used to stage charity events in aid of the war effort. Music hall entertainment continued after the war, but became less popular due to upcoming jazz , swing , and big-band dance music acts. Licensing restrictions had also changed, and drinking was banned from the auditorium. A new type of music hall entertainment had arrived, in
8470-406: The ponies were cared for in earlier years. Pit ponies are commemorated by a 200 metres (660 ft) artwork, Sultan , created between 1996 and 1999 by Mike Petts , using 60,000 tons of coal shale waste, covered with living grass, in a country park on the site of the former Penallta Colliery , north of Caerphilly, Wales. The artwork was named by local people, after one of the last pit ponies from
8580-466: The poorer members of the profession, earning thirty shillings to £3 a week. For this they have to do double turns, and now matinées have been added as well. These poor things have been compelled to submit to unfair terms of employment, and I mean to back up the federation in whatever steps are taken. World War I may have been the high-water mark of music hall popularity. The artists and composers threw themselves into rallying public support and enthusiasm for
8690-621: The premises, Henry Weston, signalled that the West End was fruitful territory for the music hall. During 1906 it was rebuilt as a variety theatre and renamed as the Holborn Empire . It was closed as a result of German action in the Blitz on the night of 11–12 May 1941 and the building was pulled down in 1960. Significant West End music halls include: Other large suburban music halls included: A noted music hall entrepreneur of this time
8800-474: The rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of previously rural populations during the Industrial Revolution . The newly created urban communities, cut off from their cultural roots, required new and readily accessible forms of entertainment. Music halls were originally tavern rooms which provided entertainment, in the form of music and speciality acts, for their patrons. By the middle years of
8910-571: The repertoire by 1900. In March of that year, Lauder travelled to London and reduced the heavy dialect of his act which according to a biographer, Dave Russell, "handicapped Scottish performers in the metropolis". He was an immediate success at the Charing Cross Music Hall and the London Pavilion , venues at which the theatrical paper The Era reported that he had generated "great furore" among his audiences with three of his self-composed songs. In 1905 Lauder's success in leading
9020-581: The rest of his life. He spent his last years at Lauder Ha (or Hall), his Strathaven home, where he died on 26 February 1950, aged 79. His funeral was held at Cadzow Church in Hamilton on 2 March. It was widely reported, notably by Pathé newsreels. One of the chief mourners was the Duke of Hamilton , a close family friend, who led the funeral procession through Hamilton, and read The Lesson. Wreaths were sent from Queen Elizabeth and Sir Winston Churchill. Lauder
9130-490: The show. In a theatre, by contrast, the audience was seated in stalls and there was a separate bar-room. An exception to this rule was the Britannia Theatre , Hoxton (1841) which somehow managed to evade this regulation and served drinks to its customers. Though a theatre rather than a music hall, this establishment later hosted music-hall variety acts. The establishment often regarded as the first true music hall
9240-494: The somewhat mysterious lyrics: Up and down the City Road In and out The Eagle That's the way the money goes Pop goes the weasel . Another famous "song and supper" room of this period was Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms , 43 King Street, Covent Garden , established in the 1840s by W.H. Evans. This venue was also known as 'Evans Late Joys' – Joy being the name of the previous owner. Other song and supper rooms included
9350-417: The stables were usually on the surface near the mine entrance. Typically, they would work an eight-hour shift each day, during which they might haul 30 tons of coal in tubs on the underground mine railway . One 1911 writer estimated that the average working life of coal mining mules was only 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 years, where 20-year working lives were common on the surface. Recollections differ on how well
9460-547: The stage three days after learning of John's death. He wrote the song "The End of the Road" (published as a collaboration with the American William Dillon , 1924) in the wake of John's death, and built a monument for him in the private Lauder cemetery in Glenbranter . (John Lauder was buried in the war cemetery at Ovillers , France). Lauder was a devout Christian and with the exception of engagements in
9570-539: The state theatres, performers could not wear costumes or recite dialogue, something only allowed in theaters. When the law changed in 1867, the Paris music hall flourished, and a half-dozen new halls opened, offering acrobats, singers, dancers, magicians, and trained animals. The first Paris music hall built specially for that purpose was the Folies-Bergere (1869); it was followed by the Moulin Rouge (1889),
9680-595: The streets for hours beforehand and it was reported that every policeman in the city plus mounted police were required to keep order. All traffic came to a standstill. He played for two weeks at the Opera House to packed audiences every night, figures "which staggered the management". He moved on to Johannesburg where his reception was equally amazing, described by a reporter who said "never, as long as I live, shall I forget it!" Lauder wrote most of his own songs, favourites of which were Roamin' In The Gloamin' , I Love
9790-412: The time has now arrived when something should be done by the law of the land to improve the lot and working conditions of the patient, equine slaves who assist so materially in carrying on the great mining industry of this country." Lauder often sang to the miners in Hamilton, who encouraged him to perform in local music halls . While singing in nearby Larkhall , he received 5 shillings—the first time he
9900-509: The two leading comedy icons of their time acted in a short film together. His final tour was in North America in 1932. He made plans for a new house at Strathaven , to be built over the site and ruin of an old manor, called Lauder Ha'. He was semi-retired in the mid-1930s, until his final retirement was announced in 1935. He briefly emerged from retirement to entertain troops during the Second World War and make wireless broadcasts with
10010-522: The war effort. Patriotic music hall compositions such as "Keep the Home Fires Burning" ( 1914 ), "Pack up Your Troubles" ( 1915 ), " It's a Long Way to Tipperary " ( 1914 ) and " We Don't Want to Lose You (But We Think You Ought To Go) " ( 1914 ), were sung by music hall audiences, and sometimes by soldiers in the trenches. Many songs promoted recruitment ("All the boys in khaki get the nice girls", 1915); others satirised particular elements of
10120-568: The war experience. "What did you do in the Great war, Daddy" ( 1919 ) criticised profiteers and slackers; Vesta Tilley 's "I've got a bit of a blighty one" ( 1916 ) showed a soldier delighted to have a wound just serious enough to be sent home. The rhymes give a sense of grim humour ("When they wipe my face with sponges / and they feed me on blancmanges / I'm glad I've got a bit of a blighty one"). Tilley became more popular than ever during this time, when she and her husband, Walter de Frece , managed
10230-588: The working classes of their pleasures, as a form of social control, whilst sparing the supposedly more responsible upper classes who patronised the theatres (though this could be due to the licensing restrictions brought about due to the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 , which also applied to public houses). Even so, the music hall gave rise to such major stars as George Formby , Gracie Fields , Max Miller , Will Hay , and Flanagan and Allen during this period. In
10340-544: Was Carlo Gatti who built a music hall, known as Gatti's, at Hungerford Market in 1857. He sold the music hall to South Eastern Railway in 1862, and the site became Charing Cross railway station . With the proceeds from selling his first music hall, Gatti acquired a restaurant in Westminster Bridge Road , opposite The Canterbury music hall. He converted the restaurant into a second Gatti's music hall, known as "Gatti's-in-the-Road", in 1865. It later became
10450-515: Was knighted in 1919 for his own services to the war effort, and Tilley became Lady de Frece. Once the reality of war began to sink home, the recruiting songs all but disappeared – the Greatest Hits collection for 1915 published by top music publisher Francis and Day contains no recruitment songs. After conscription was brought in 1916, songs dealing with the war spoke mostly of the desire to return home. Many also expressed anxiety about
10560-570: Was back at Gramophone, and performed for them in several sessions through 1908. That year he made several two and four-minute cylinders for Edison Records . Next year he recorded for Victor in New York. He continued to make some cylinders for Edison, but was primarily associated with His Master's Voice and Victor. In 1910 Victor introduced a mid-priced purple-label series, the first twelve issues of which were by Lauder. In 1927 Victor promoted Lauder recordings to their Red Seal imprint, making him
10670-552: Was born on 4 August 1870 in his maternal grandfather's house in Portobello, Edinburgh , Scotland, the eldest of seven children. By the time of the 1871 census he and his parents were living at 1 Newbigging Veitchs Cottages, Inveresk . His father, John Lauder, was the grandson of George Lauder of Inverleith Mains & the St Bernard's Well estate, Edinburgh. He claimed in his autobiography that his family were descendants of
10780-518: Was his pin leg. I wasn't there that day. Lauder said he was "proud to be old coal-miner" and in 1911, became an outspoken advocate, "pleading the cause of the poor pit ponies " to Winston Churchill , when introduced to him at the House of Commons and later reported to the Tamworth Herald that he "could talk for hours about my wee four-footed friends of the mine. But I think I convinced that
10890-465: Was hit by falling rock at the Oakenshaw mine while trying to aid another miner whose hand putter's tub had become loose. In 1911, Sir Harry Lauder became an outspoken advocate, "pleading the cause of the poor pit ponies" to Sir Winston Churchill , when introduced to him at the House of Commons , reporting to the Tamworth Herald that he "could talk for hours about my wee four-footed friends of
11000-649: Was in the Durham coalfield in 1750. Following the drowning deaths of 26 children when the Huskar Colliery in Silkstone flooded on 4 July 1838, "A report was published in The Times , and the wider British public learned for the first time that women and children worked in the mines. There was a public outcry, led by politician and reformer Anthony Ashley Cooper , later Lord Shaftesbury", who then introduced
11110-441: Was interred with his brother George and their mother in the family plot at Bent Cemetery in Hamilton. In 1932 he had placed the land at Strathaven where Lauder Hall would stand, and its park, in the name of his niece and secretary, Margaret Lauder to avoid high death duties should he die, as he wanted it preserved as the family seat and a museum to himself. This proved to be a wise move as although he left moveable estate of £358,971,
11220-595: Was introduced on the main underground roads replacing pony hauls, and ponies tended to be confined to the shorter runs from coal face to main road (known in North East England as "putting") which were more difficult to mechanise. In 1984 there were still 55 ponies in use with the National Coal Board in Britain, chiefly at the modern pit in Ellington, Northumberland . When Ellington closed for
11330-532: Was known as the Music Hall War . It became extremely well known, and was advocated enthusiastically by the main spokesmen of the trade union and Labour movement – Ben Tillett and Keir Hardie for example. Picket lines were organized outside the theatres by the artistes, while in the provinces theatre management attempted to oblige artistes to sign a document promising never to join a trade union. The strike ended in arbitration, which satisfied most of
11440-486: Was of then unprecedented size. It was further extended in 1859, later rebuilt as a variety theatre and finally destroyed by German bombing in 1942. The Canterbury Hall became a model for music halls in other cities too, such as the Bristol Canterbury, which was built in 1850s as the first purpose-built music hall in the city. Another early music hall was The Middlesex, Drury Lane (1851). Popularly known as
11550-535: Was on hand in Sydney, with their nephew John (Matt's son), to welcome Lauder, his wife and her brother Tom Vallance, after a four-year absence from Australia. He visited and stayed with his brother John in Newcastle on several occasions, two well-known visits being in 1925, when he gave several performances at Newcastle's Victoria Theatre for three weeks commencing on 8 August, and again in 1929 arriving in Newcastle for
11660-665: Was paid for singing. He received further engagements including a weekly "go-as-you please" night held by Mrs. Christina Baylis at her Scotia Music Hall/Metropole Theatre in Glasgow. She advised him to gain experience by touring music halls around the country with a concert party, which he did. The tour allowed him to quit the coal mines and become a professional singer. Lauder concentrated his repertoire on comedic routines and songs of Scotland and Ireland. By 1894, Lauder had turned professional and performed local characterisations at small, Scottish and northern English music halls but had ceased
11770-459: Was performed: male and female impersonators, lions comiques , mime artists and impressionists, trampoline acts, and comic pianists (such as John Orlando Parry and George Grossmith ) were just a few of the many types of entertainments the audiences could expect to find over the next forty years. The Music Hall Strike of 1907 was an important industrial conflict. It was a dispute between artists and stage hands on one hand, and theatre managers on
11880-678: Was the Canterbury , 143 Westminster Bridge Road , Lambeth built by Charles Morton , afterwards dubbed "the Father of the Halls", on the site of a skittle alley next to his pub, the Canterbury Tavern. It opened on 17 May 1852 and was described by the musician and author Benny Green as being "the most significant date in all the history of music hall". The hall looked like most contemporary pub concert rooms, but its replacement in 1854
11990-670: Was the Tivoli in the Strand built 1888–90 in an eclectic neo-Romanesque style with Baroque and Moorish-Indian embellishments. " The Tivoli " became a brand name for music-halls all over the British Empire. During 1892, the Royal English Opera House, which had been a financial failure in Shaftesbury Avenue , applied for a music hall licence and was converted by Walter Emden into a grand music hall and renamed
12100-421: Was visiting Australia. During the war Lauder promoted recruitment into the services and starred in many concerts for troops at home and abroad. Campaigning for the war effort in 1915, he then wrote "I know that I am voicing the sentiment of thousands and thousands of people when I say that we must retaliate in every possible way regardless of cost. If these German savages want savagery, let them have it". Following
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