Roamin’ in the gloamin’ (1928)

ROAMIN' IN THE GLOAMIN' 101 one of his songs "translated." He was quite willing to do so and at once warbled out : "My led's a pollisman A thumping Highling pollisman He gone and join'd the pollis fors He was so charmed with work. He came from the Highlings With a load of potato pilings And I'm going to merry him On Hogmanay night !" I almost died laughing at this outlandish nonsense and to this day when I want to amuse my friends all over the world I tell them the story of the wee comic who tried to translate his songs for the benefit of the Tynesiders. From Newcastle I went on to South Shields and then to the Hartlepools and Sunderland, etc. My salary for this tour was three pounds ten shillings. The place on the bill I occupied was a very humble one ; I was either first turn or last and many a night I played to empty seats. But those people who did hear me were generous in their applause. And I made certain that they understood every word of what I was singing or talking about. That I held, and still hold, to be the very first aim and object of an artiste anywhere. The last two weeks of the tour were in my own city of Glasgow and I was delighted with the receptions given me there. There was a warmth and spontaniety in the applause of my Glasgow admirers which meant much in the way of encouragement and determined me to go right ahead with some new songs and character stuff. I had been planning while on tour. I was thoroughly displeased with the material I was using. My songs were poor even if they were funny. Frankly, they would have been considered trash had any other person tried to sing and act them, but I must say, in honesty to myself, that I presented them with all the power, "pawkiness," or dash that I could put into them. I had almost forgotten that in these days, too, I was a sentimental singer.