Sir Harry Lauder

Sir Harry Lauder , 1870-1950, Scottish baritone. His original name was MacLennan. Lauder was popular for his singing of ballads and comic songs, many of his own composition. During World War II he emerged from retirement to entertain the Allied soldiers. He was knighted in 1919.

Lauder, Sir Harry (1870–1950). Entertainer. A genial if thrifty Lowland Scot, Lauder progressed from amateur concerts to small music‐halls before appearing at Birkenhead as an Irish comedian. Risking Scottish songs in London (1900), he soon became one of vaudeville's greatest box‐office attractions, tirelessly entertaining the troops in both world wars (earning a knighthood, 1919). ‘The Laird of the Halls’ drew on traditional airs to produce simple attractive lilts (‘I love a lassie’), and could carry his audience easily from trifles to more serious ballads.

Lauder, Sir Harry (1870–1950). Entertainer. A genial if thrifty Lowland Scot, initially a miner, Lauder progressed from amateur concerts to travelling concert parties and small music-halls before appearing at Birkenhead (near Liverpool) as an Irish comedian. Risking Scottish songs in London (1900), he soon became one of vaudeville's greatest box-office attractions, toured successfully in America and the empire, and tirelessly entertained the troops in both world wars (earning a knighthood, 1919). ‘The Laird of the Halls’ interspersed songs with patter, drawing on traditional airs to produce simple attractive lilts (‘I love a lassie’), and could carry his audience easily from trifles to more serious ballads. Lauder's exploitation of ‘quaint old Caledonia’ which prompted a nostalgic glow in expatriates was resented by young nationalists in later years, but in the Second World War he was president of the Scottish Regional Committee of ENSA.

A. S. Hargreaves