Walter Freer in Glasgow - the 1850's
I can tell you from experience that the old music-halls of Glasgow were pretty queer places, and it is little wonder that respectable parents of the period made a dead-set against them.
When I was a youngster of twelve or so there were two Glasgow music-halls which I frequented, drawn thither by my passion for singing, dancing, and instrument-playing. It seems queer to me now that, concurrently with attending the Band of Hope, “ clan ” soirees, and the Glasgow Abstainers’ concerts, I should have been putting in appearances at such houses at Shearer’s Whitebate and Brown’s; …
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I can tell you from experience that the old music-halls of Glasgow were pretty queer places, and it is little wonder that respectable parents of the period made a dead-set against them.
When I was a youngster of twelve or so there were two Glasgow music-halls which I frequented, drawn thither by my passion for singing, dancing, and instrument-playing. It seems queer to me now that, concurrently with attending the Band of Hope, “ clan ” soirees, and the Glasgow Abstainers’ concerts, I should have been putting in appearances at such houses at Shearer’s Whitebate and Brown’s; but there you are—I did. And I daresay I enjoyed them, too.
Shearer’s Whitebate Music-Hall was on the spot where St. Enoch Station now stands, and Brown’s Music-Hall was quite close by, in Dunlop Street. As you went in you paid your entry-money, and the price of a refreshment (for drinking in those days was almost as common as breathing) and took your place in the hall beyond. The stage was railed off from the audience, and the owner of the music-hall acted as chairman, announcing each item as it fell due.
Comparing these extraordinarily crude and rowdy entertainment parlours with our palatial modern theatres, I am amazed that they ever won any patronage whatsoever. But they were popular, and I used to sneak in often enough, and enjoy the warmth and fun of Shearer’s and Brown’s without any qualms of conscience.
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Listeners
Walter Freer
General Manager Corporation Halls and Musical Recitals, Glasgow
1846-1930
Originally submitted by hgb3 on Tue, 07 Oct 2014 12:24:29 +0100