Last of the Sandies, The

AKA [parody of The Cameron Clan]
First Published 1902
Writer/composer Harry Lauder & Bob Beaton Roud RN24300

Music Hall Performers Harry Lauder 

There's many a man in the Cameron clan
That has followed his chief to the field
I am the last of the famous MacFuddles
And I would die before I would yield
But I wouldn't like to die just now
For look what Society would miss
The ladies all stop me a tell me if I
Was to die they'd have nothing to kiss.

Och! my! all the nice ladies they meet me
And treat me to sodas and brandies
Just because I am Sandy MacFuddle,
Esquire, the last o' the Sandies.

My grandfather great lived in style and in state
And his castle is still in Dundee
The girls cooed and kissed, laid their heads on his chest
But he's dead, and now they're all after me
So a nice lass I took for a stroll, ye ken
Her love I could scarcely believe
When I kissed her hand she looked at me, and wiped
The tears from her chin with her sleeve.

The last of my clan, I'm a pet ladies man
I'm a Hielan'man true tae the hilt
Lassies all ask me for locks of my hair
Or for just a wee bit off my kilt
The Macfuddles, ye ken, were a' handsome men
They lived upon whuskey and beer
It's plain, by my face, I'm of some noble race
Yes, the last o' the Sandies stands here.

A song co-written and performed by the prominent Scots comedian Harry Lauder which borrows liberally from an earlier traditional Scottish song. Lauder described his inspiration in one of his autobiographies:

I was walking through the streets in the West End of London one day and observed, wherever I went, advertisements of a play called The Last of the Dandies. All at once the idea flashed across me — why not write a Scotch character song entitled The Last of the Sandies?

Lauder doesn’t mention that the first verse of his song is a close parody of a well-known traditional Scottish song written and composed by Mary Maxwell Cameron in c1829.

Mary Cameron’s song praises the bravery of members of the Cameron clan who marched to their deaths at Culloden in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Lauder borrows much of the first verse of the earlier song, as shown below, but paints a very different picture of his comic clan the MacFuddles

Snippet from Bodleian Ballad Collection

This song is included as an example of a pre-existing traditional song which was incorporated into a Music Hall piece. I have not aware of it featuring in the repertoire of any traditional singers.

Sources: