Into The Duat Blogs: Ladies & Gentlemen

In an article soon to be published here, I outline the bizarre final resting place of the 10th Duke of Hamilton. These next few words give a brief account of the strange death and final resting place of one of the most famous entertainers of the 20th Century, The Great Lafayette, aka Sigmund Neuberger.

Saturday 9 May marks the 98th anniversary of his death. This sensational stage magician was a friend of Harry Houdini and started his stage career imitating Ching Ling Fu. He very soon outshone both to become the highest-paid performer in vaudeville.

An eccentric man his constant companion was his dog, Beauty, which Houdini had gifted to him. Pampered with diamond studded collars and other expensive gifts, Beauty was also part of his stage act and he referred to her as a magician in her own right.

In 1911 they travelled to Edinburgh to perform sell out shows at the Empire Theatre. Tragically Beauty died leaving the Great Lafayette distraught. After much wrangling he received permission from the City of Edinburgh Council to have beauty buried within Piershill cemetery in the city. Complaints from the public included one sharp witted protester who pointed out that at the cemetery gates a sign read “no dogs allowed”. Permission was only granted with the proviso that this was Lafayettes plot and that when the time came he would be interred in the plot. Unbeknown to himself, he was to meet that end whilst still in Edinburgh just over a week later.

His performances were legendary. The ‘jewel in the crown’ of his illusions was an elaborate act titled ‘The Lions Bride’. This required a real Lion, a Horse and a cast of faithful performers. The secrecy surrounding his illusions was such that he would have the doors at the back of the stage locked to stop his competition from discovering how the tricks were performed. This was to be his downfall.

At the second performance on the evening of 9 May a Chinese lantern accidentally set light to the stage curtains. Thinking that it was part of the act the audience remained in their seats. The quick thinking orchestra conductor interrupted the performance by getting the orchestra to play ‘God Save the King’, which immediately had everyone on their feet. Seeing the fire continue to spread and realising that all was not well, the now panicking crowd managed amazingly to escape without harm. Another fate however befell the cast.

The Great Lafayette’s last recorded words were, “I must go back for my horse.” When he was next seen, it was his lifeless, blackened and charred remains. His features destroyed he was identified by the unique jewelled ring on his finger. His identity established his body was sent to Glasgow for cremation. In the days that followed local newspapers included strange headlines such as ‘the bodies of the midgets were retrieved from the Empire Theatre today”.

Two days after the tragedy dumbfounded fire officers discovered the ‘real’ body of the Great Lafayette. It transpired that the first body had, in actual fact, been that of his body double that he used in his illusions (who as a quick aside, lived in a flat that was rented by our very own Mark Oxbrow, many, many years later).

The funeral procession set off from the undertakers W.T. Dunbar and Sons in Morrison Street on 14 May 1911 witnessed by a gathering of thousands

along the route to Piershill Cemetery. His popularity and eccentricity was such that this ‘show’ pulled a bigger crowd than the Royal visit to Edinburgh a few years earlier. His final performance was reportedly a spectacular sight to behold. His silver-grey Mercedes automobile carried his principle mourner, his

Dalmatian hound, Mabel! Standing on the running boards were his two black servants. The black horse-drawn carriage carrying his ashes contained in an urn, were taken from the carriage on arrival and

carefully placed within the grave where they now remain, Anubis like, between the paws of the preserved body of his great love Beauty!