Glasgow Unemployed Relief Fund, Concert in the New Public Halls, Monday the 10th of February, 1879
The advertisement on the front page of The Glasgow Herald, on Monday the 10th of February, 1879, reads:
“79TH BAND,
CHARITY CONCERT,
TO-NIGHT AT 8,
NEW HALLS,
6D, 1S, 2S 6D.”
An article on page four of the Herald, on Tuesday the 11th of February, reads:
“GLASGOW UNEMPLOYED RELIEF FUND.—Last night, under the auspices of the Lord Provost,
Magistrates, and members of the Acting Relief Committees of the various wards in the city, a
concert was given in the New Public Halls by the reed and string band and pipers of the 79th
Regiment in aid of the Glasgow Unemployed Relief Fund. The instrumentalists were assisted by a
number of well-known vocalists; and the excellence of the programme arranged, as well as the
benevolent nature of the object for which the entertainment was given, attracted a very good
audience. The performance opened with the overture to ‘William Tell,’ and the band thereafter
played Fred Godfrey’s ‘Reminiscences from Meyerbeer,’ and a selection from Sullivan’s ‘H. M. S.
Pinafore;’ while the string band played Lumbye’s Valse ‘Ma Vie.’ The execution of the various
pieces elicited the hearty plaudits of the audience. A number of favourite marches, strathspeys,
and reels were performed with great spirit by the regimental pipers. The vocalists were Miss
Bessie Aitken and Miss Jennie Thomson, Messrs Thomas Walker, J. G. Sharpe, J. Lumsden, and
J. Houston, and their various contributions were very cordially acknowledged. In the course of the
evening the Lord Provost ascended the platform, and in his own name and the name of his colleagues
on the Relief Committee thanked Lieutenant-Colonel Cuming and the officers of the 79th
Regiment for granting the services of the band. He further acknowledged the kindness of the
vocalists who had lent variety to the entertainment, and said that he was happy to say that a
substantial sum would be handed over to the committee after defraying all expenses in
connection with the concert.”