I've Gone TeaPot.....

You see it's like this.  In the 19th Century the towns in this part of the world spent far too much time on 'civic pride.'  Huddersfield for instance would build an expensive, elaborate Town Hall, Bradford would then build a bigger, better, more ornate one.  Looking on and getting jealous Leeds would design and build a stupendous Town Hall to put all others in the shade, God was not worshipped in such towns, Mammon was!  This cost vast sums of money, often money that ought to have gone elsewhere, but that is how it was then.  Councils are so much more considerate and careful with cash today......what?....oh!

Anyway the City of Aberdeen decided not to be left out here.  Instead of a Town Hall it was decided to build something more useful and spectacular, a street!  A renewed thoroughfare right through the centre of the City.  This they did, knocking down some buildings and extending Union Street a considerable distance.  Now this was a fancy idea indeed but alas there was a serious flaw in the plan.  The street was an expensive enough idea but the buildings on it had to be predominately constructed of granite!  That slight flaw caused the costs to grow way out of hand because such granite had to be brought from a very considerable distance.  Costs grew, problems grew, and eventually the city was declared bankrupt!  As such the joke in Scotland grew that Aberdonians had deep pockets, would never spend money, and were very tightfisted.  Even today that myth continues.  It is a myth isn't it?

Some years later Harry Lauder decided to make a living out of the Variety Show circuit.  His act was famously based on a tightfisted Scotsman wearing a large 'Tam O' Shanter on his head, a kilted outfit, and carrying a very crooked walking stick.  His tightfistedness made him famous even in the streets of New York, which then was on the other side of the world.  In 1926 he gave the Hotel doorman a silver threepence as a tip.  The doorman howled to all the pressmen about the mean Scot and the publicity brought US fame to Harry Lauder.  The doorman had of course been well paid for his trouble before he received the sixpence!

It is interesting to note that 'Punch' magazine never showed mean Scotsmen until Lauder took to the stage.  Before then the humour was based on whisky, gamekeepers watching English visitors shooting or fishing and somewhat dryly and cynically commenting on there difficulties, or the accent.  For isnstance and small gathering of males one night, whisky abounding, Andrew rises to shake hands "Och yer no leavin already Andrew?" says host Jock.  "Na, Na," replies Andrew, "I'm just shaking hands when I can recognise whae ye are." 

At Christmas I spent a lovely week with a couple from Aberdeen, now resident in the warm south.   I should mention this man began work as an employee of the 'Clydesdale bank' in Aberdeen way back when, a job he left many years ago, but strangely enough the job never left him.  One of his tricks today is making use of a small teapot to reuse used tea bags, anybody's, he is not fussy, and this struck me as a wonderful money saving idea.  Normally I use one bag per cup, but inspired by this I began to reuse the insipid and costly tea bags.  However this was a messy while financially rewarding experience, so I went out this morning to find a teapot, cheap.  In spite of the crowds walking into me even though I'm big enough to see, I continued through all the charity shops in town successfully obtaining my teapot, for 99 pence!  What a bargain!  Now after each delightful, healthy cup of cheap Sainsburys 'Red Label' tea I can deposit the bag in the pot, with the others, and get my money's worth.  Somethings make life worth living, don't you think?  

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