A Son of the Rock

One of the glories mysteries of Scottish kitsch culture has died.

Anna Watt was one half of the unbelievable duo of “singing” sisters Fran and Anna.

I first encountered them on the Scottish Television show Thingummyjig which featured artistes and dancers performing songs and dances in the broad Scottish folk tradition but couched in a light-hearted not-taking-itself-too-seriously style; much in contrast with the BBC’s earlier effort on these lines “The White Heather Club.”

Thingummyjig’s host, Jack McLaughlin, the self-styled Laird o’ Coocaddens, used to refer to Fran and Anna, famous more for their mini-kilts and general tartanry, as “the Gruesome Twosome.”

They made even more of an impact on Terry Wogan who quite clearly could not believe what he was witnessing when he first had them on his TV interview show.

How anyone could make a living peddling this sort of stuff beats me.

The really scary thing is Anna was 85. I thought she was almost that old all those years ago. Looking at the clips on the Scottish news tonight she and her sister in their heyday looked relatively young. Michty me!

Anna Watt, 1924-2009. So it goes.