The strike of variety artistes reminds me of a concert company who were left in a curious predicament near Fraserburgh, owing to a pianist who went on strike for higher wages.  No other musician could be had except a piper.  The piper was engaged by the manager, and he did all right for a Highland dancer and Scotch comedian.

The worst of the business, however, was that he could only speak Gaelic, and he must have conceived the idea that he was to play everything in general. […]

However, the situation was not so bad after all: the skirl o’ the pipes pleased the audience, who bundled the seats into the corners of the hall and made a ball room of the place.  There was heechin’ and hoochin’ an’ crackin’ o’ thumbs till 2 o’clock in the morning, and the company, entering into the spirit of the thing, joined in the dancing.