Jamie MacDougall as Lauder
Perth Festival 2025
Perth Theatre 25/5/25
Jamie MacDougall (tenor)
‘Lauder’ is a revue by Jimmy Logan, presenting the life and musical legacy of legendary Scottish music hall performer Harry Lauder. It has been adapted, by Kally Lloyd-Jones and tenor/broadcaster Jamie MacDougall, as a one-man show, with piano accompaniment, with Jamie in-role. I caught the single matinee performance in Perth Theatre on the afternoon of 25th May, as part of this year’s Perth Festival of the Arts. As there were no printed programmes and the pianist was not credited in the publicity or (as far as I could notice) en passant in the script, I remain in the dark as to his identity. Attendance was modest and predominantly ‘of a certain age’.
Footage from a black-and-white AP newsreel of Harry’s funeral opened the performance, the pianist playing the melody of ‘Keep right on to the end of the road’. He then called Harry to the stage to commence a rehearsal. Jamie entered from the back of the theatre. The witty script mimicked the authentic Lauder patter with more than a few forerunners of the “Dad joke” genre. The first number ‘rehearsed’ was the saucy ‘Canoodle Doodle’ (I’m going to marry-arry sweet little Carrie-arrie), followed by the equally saucy ‘Stop yer ticklin’, Jock’. The rehearsal ‘framing’ thenceforth morphed into a narrative monologue of Harry’s life, punctuated by copious songs from his repertoire.
His boyhood taste of performing in the temperance-oriented ‘Band of Hope’ was parodied by a rendition of ‘Whisky, whisky, there’s nothin’ like the whisky’. We learnt of his job working down the pit, eventual success in a singing competition, marrying the foreman’s daughter, the birth of his son John and his early career as an entertainer, with as many as 6 engagements a night on the bill of different music halls, developing his stage persona (after a brief period as an Irish ‘comedian’ – he preferred the term ‘minstrel’ – illustrated by ‘Calligan Call Again’). Such romantic Scottish Lauder favourites such as ‘I Love a Lassie’, ‘There Is Somebody Waiting For Me’, ‘The Lass of Killiecrankie’ and ‘Roamin’ in the Gloamin’’ illustrated this part of the narrative.
We heard how, with William Morris as his agent and the rapid rise in popularity of his songs, he became the highest paid entertainer in the world, buying a big house on a loch in Argyle in 1914. ‘Just a Wee Deoch an Doris’, with audience participation, caught the mood and sense of wellbeing. His son, who had achieved a degree in music from Cambridge, was in the local regiment and fought in the war. ‘She Is Ma Daisy’, a song of parting, is tinged with sadness. John was wounded and sent home to recuperate, a happy time for father and son spent fishing on the loch, before John returned to the front and Harry returned to work. ‘The Laddies Who Fought and Won’ expressed a fervent hope. A telegram brought the dreaded news on New Year’s Eve: his son was dead. Another AP newsreel showed grim battlefield footage. “A Wee Hoose 'Mang the Heather” caught the poignancy of waiting for the return that will never happen.
Back in the kilt with the signature twisted walking stick, the mood lifted with ‘The Waggle of the Kilt’. Harry performed for the troops and started fundraising at home and internationally for rehabilitation of the wounded, raising a huge sum. America joined the war and Harry toured the US and Australia. ‘We parted on the shore’ is a song of exile and separation and chimed with many. Harry and his wife were together in Australia when he received the telegram informing him of his knighthood, he addressing her as “milady”. ‘It's A Fine Thing To Sing’ caught the mood. The show closed, as it had begun, with ‘Keep right on to the end of the road’, but this time sung with great gusto.
I’ve never been shy about describing Jamie MacDougall as a “national treasure” and I’m not going to start being so now. His recent Scottish Opera performances that I’ve reviewed include The Spy in ‘Marx in London!’, the Defendant (Edwin) in ‘Trial by Jury’ and the Special Advisor (Malcolm Tucker) in ‘A Matter of Misconduct’. He is a consummate entertainer. Although the Harry Lauder Songbook is well outside my heritage and has never been, nor is ever likely to be, within the core of my musical passions, I found ‘Lauder’ very enjoyable and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.