Sir Harry Lauder

Sir Harry Lauder, the popular singer and entertainer, who won international renown, was born at Number 4 Bridge Street, Portobello. As a boy Lauder worked in a flax-spinning mill in Arbroath, where he attended school, and for a time he was a miner.
Lauder is said to have started his music-hall career as an Irish comedian. It was in Arbroath that he first appeared on stage. He had a natural singing voice and a talent for composing simple and tuneful songs.His stage persona depended heavily on the kilt, a curly walking-stick, and much talk of bawbees and allusions to tight-fistedness, and Lauder's critics complained that he caricatured the Scot. Be that as it may, Lauder was just as popular in his own country as he was in England and innumerable countries overseas. Songs like Roaming in the Gloaming and Keep Right On to the End of the Road retain their magic and have become part of Scotland's folk music. He toured the world extensively during his forty-year career, including 22 trips to the United States and several to Australia, to which his brother John had emigrated. He was, at one time, the highest-paid performer in the world, making the equivalent of Ł12,700 a night plus expenses, and was the first British performer to sell more than a million records. Lauder's appeal was not limited to popular tastes; he was a favourite of King Edward VII and a friend of Sir Thomas Lipton, the tea merchant.
When World War I broke out, Lauder was in Melbourne on one of his Australian tours. During the war, he led successful fundraising efforts for war charities, organised a tour of music halls in 1915 for recruitment purposes, and entertained the troops under enemy fire in France. He suffered personal tragedy during the war, when his only son, John (1891–1916), a captain in the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, was killed in action on 26 December 1916 at Poiziers. Harry wrote the song Keep Right on to the End of the Road in the wake of John's death, and would memorialize his son, who was buried in France, in the little Lauder cemetery in Glenbranter. For his services during the war, Lauder was knighted in January 1919 and in 1927 received the Freedom of Edinburgh.

Sir Harry's final retirement was announced in 1935. However, he again entertained troops during World War II, despite his age, and made wireless broadcasts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared immediately after the war to thank the crews of American food relief ships docking at Glasgow.
His last years were spent in his home of Lauder Ha' at Strathaven, where he died in February 1950. As might be expected, his funeral was widely reported on. One of the chief mourners was the Duke of Hamilton, who led the funeral procession and read the lesson. Unexpectedly, Sir Harry was interred with his mother and brother George at Bent Cemetery, Hamilton, rather than at Glenbranter.
A few years ago, when the new Portobello Bypass was inaugurated, it was named Sir Harry Lauder R