Retro Nostalgia 1973: Music hall star turn celebrates birthday

Name-dropping some of the great troupers of Scotland’s variety theatres was the name of the game and among those mentioned were Will Fyfe, Harry Lauder and J M Hamilton. And doing the name-dropping was sprightly 89 year old birthday boy Dan Shaw.

Dan, of Seaforth Road, Langlees, reminisced fondly about the stage stars with whom he was on first name terms as he, in his heyday, trod those self-same boards earning his living as a comedian. A member of ‘‘Harry Lauder’s Cronies’’ – a select club of top Scots entertainers who appeared all over Britain – Dan looked back nostalgically on his time on the road.

Born in Bonnybridge, Dan was early on stage with the Co-operative Juvenile Concert Party. World War One came and Dan’s comic talents were utilised to cheer up the ‘‘Tommies’’ in Africa.

After hostilities ceased Dan married Falkirk’s Margaret Young, herself a singer, and his career blossomed.