I never paid any attention to Harry Lauder, until we bought a new house, in Laudervale, Dunoon, Argyll. We didn't know it was named after HL until after we moved in. He had his mansion here, now demolished. He sold it, the new owner turned it into an hotel, got drunk one night and burned the place down, accidentally or for the insurance money nobody is sure, in 1956. There are now ten houses on the sight.                                                            

He is said to have written "Roamin in the Gloamin" in the mansion one evening after seeing a young couple walking hand in hand on the Bullwood Road, overlooking "the bonnie banks o' Clyde" [hey, great view!]. Ardentinny, of "O'er the Hill Tae Ardentinny, just tae see ma Bonnie Jeannie" fame is just a few miles north up the coast, on Loch Long. HL used to go fishing there. His only son (a student at Oxford) was killed in the First World War and "Keep Right On to the End of the Road" was influenced by this. He was a bit of a mean, dour, old fashioned Presbyterian, a man of his time, place and class, like most of us. (We managed to find an old photo of the mansion, which is now framed above our mantlepiece!)

Personally, I'm not a fan of HL but it's hard to knock a guy, the son of a coal miner, who played golf with US presidents and earned £5000 a week in the 30s.