Dora Lindsay

Lindsay was from Glasgow, the daughter of a publisher father and a poet mother. Her grandfather, Louis Lindsay, was also a stage performer, described as a "celebrated Negro comedian" (meaning that he impersonated Black people in his act).[2][3][4]

Lindsay was a comedian and singer with the Anderson's Star Musical Company by 1903,[5] and in Scottish music hall revues and pantomime productions In the 1910s and 1920s.[6][7][8] She was often seen in a double act with comedian Bret Harte (not the writer), where the "droll couple" humor rested on the class differences between their accents.[9][10] "Dora was a wee woman with a complete mastery of the intricacies and nuances of Glasgow working-class speech," explained one theatre historian.[11][12] She performed as Mother Goose at the Glasgow Pavilion in 1920 and 1921.[13][14] One of her signature songs was "Ah'm nut a can, Ah'm Dorothy Ann".[15] She appeared in several short silent films made in Scotland.[16] She was compared to Harry Lauder and Marie Lloyd by critics.[17]

Lindsay toured internationally in 1923 and 1924.[18] "She is a born humorist, with remarkable knowledge of character impersonation," said a 1923 report in Australia.[19] She later moved to Australia, and performed comedic songs in Scottish-themed entertainments on stage and radio,[20] through the 1930s,[21][22][23] and into the 1940s.[1][24][25] She toured with the Long Tack Sam company in New Zealand in 1936.[26] She wrote the words and music to a song, "Anzac" (1939).[27]