Scotland the What? were a Scottish comedy revue act comprising William "Buff" Hardie, Stephen Robertson and George Donald.

History

Buff Hardie and Steve Robertson first met in the Aberdeen Student Show in 1952.Steve Robertson: "Scotland The What? An Inside Story", Leopard Press 2010. George Donald, another

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

student, wrote music for the 1954 Student Show, but did not take part in it. So all three only met together later through the Aberdeen Revue Group, which is where they also found their future producer Jimmy Logan. (He later had to revert in public to his formal first name "James" in order to join the actors' union Equity, because there was already a Glaswegian comic using the professional name

Jimmy Logan James Allan Short, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE, RSAMD, FRSAMD (4 April 1928 – 13 April 2001), known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scotland, Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and Theatre director, ...

.) Buff Hardie had first appeared in the 1951 Student Show 'Spring in Your Step', and co-wrote the 1957 show ''College Bounds''. But it was after the 1968 student show ''Running Riot'' – which the four men wrote, composed, produced and directed – that the idea of putting on a show of their own at the Edinburgh Festival was first mooted. Jimmy Logan directed "Scotland the What?" from 1969 until his death in 1993. The trio first appeared under the banner of "Scotland the What?" at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 1969. They became a 'hot ticket' when Neville Garden from the ''

Scottish Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' newspaper wrote a favourable review. They described themselves at the outset as "three semi-literate Scots taking an irreverent look at their country's institutions," and for the following 26 years (14 years with the same Stage Manager, Peter Garland) the trio proceeded to do just that. Prior to each show, they had a handshaking ritual at the side of the stage which continued until their final performance, which was at His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen on 25 November 1995. The trio were awarded MBEs in 1995, having already received honorary degrees from Aberdeen University in 1994. The trio played to sell-out audiences in their home city of Aberdeen and in locations throughout the world. The

sketch Sketch or Sketches may refer to: * Sketch (drawing), a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work Arts, entertainment and media * Sketch comedy, a series of short scenes or vignettes called sketches Fil ...

es and songs which they performed were largely based in the local dialect of the North-east of Scotland known as the Doric. They were often set in a fictional

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

village called "Auchterturra". After the death of Jimmy Logan in 1993, the on stage trio were then directed by Alan Franchi, who had previously directed their shows for

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and which, decades later, was merged with the Central Belt channel STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isle ...

Legacy

On 25 April 2007, Aberdeen City Council approved a motion by Councillor Ramsay Milne to award the

Freedom of the City of Aberdeen Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" ...

to the trio for "their services to the Fine Arts, the Doric language and North East of Scotland culture; promotion of the City and, above all, for makin' a'body laugh." The conferral took place on 20 April 2008 at His Majesty's Theatre. An

Early Day Motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...

tabled at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Malcolm Bruce Malcolm Gray Bruce, Baron Bruce of Bennachie, (born 17 November 1944) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Gordon from 1983 to 2015 and was the chairman of the International Development Select Commit ...

MP asked that "That this House congratulates Scotland the What?, comprising Buff Hardie, Stephen Robertson and George Donald, on receiving the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen and thanks them for 50 years of entertainment and the promotion of Aberdeen, the Doric dialect and the distinctive character of North East country and city folk and, to quote the official citation, above all, for 'makin a'body laugh'." As at 8 May 2008 it had 23 signatures. Steve Robertson also appeared in "Bon Record!" – a show to celebrate the 750th anniversary of

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest schools in the ...

– the school that he attended. (The school motto "Bon Record" is a play on words of the motto of Aberdeen City, which is " Bon ''Accord''".) In May 2008 Stephen Robertson was elected as

Rector of the University of Aberdeen The Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen is the students' representative and chairperson in the University Court of the University of Aberdeen. The position is rarely known by its full title and most often referred to simply as " Rector". T ...

; his installation took place in October 2008. He died in November 2011. In September 2013 George Donald died aged 79, and in 2020 Buff Hardie died aged 89.

References

Bibliography

*Hardie, Buff, Stephen Robertson, George Donald, ''Scotland the What?'' (Edinburgh: Gordon Wright, 1987). *Hardie, Buff, Stephen Robertson, George Donald, ''Scotland the What? – Second Helping'' (Edinburgh: Gordon Wright, 1996).

External links

Minute of the Council Meeting conferring the Freedom of the CityScotland the What? albumsThe Career and Performances of Scotland The What?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotland The What? Culture in Aberdeen Theatre companies in Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen 20th-century Scottish comedians Scottish male comedians Comedy trios