Read on Twitter
After listening to @misssamperrin’s talk about duelling magicians last night, it got me thinking of the magician that’s buried near where I live: a thread.
The Great Lafayette was the highest paid magician at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20thC. And in 1911, he came to Edinburgh. People lined the streets. He was to perform for two weeks at what’s now the Festival Theatre - across the road from Surgeons’ Hall
However, there was an unfortunate event soon after his arrival. His beloved terrier Beauty - a gift from Harry Houdini - died. Possibly down to the lavish lifestyle she’d had - she was overindulged, and had five course meals, and wore a collar studded with diamonds
The Great Lafayette - real name Sigmund Neuberger - wanted a proper burial for his dog. However, animals were not really allowed to be buried in ‘people’ graveyards. Lafayette overcame Edinburgh councils resistance by promising that when he died, he’d be buried with Beauty.
It came sooner than he thought. 4 days after Beauty’s burial in Edinburgh’s Piershill Cemetery, the theatre the Great Lafayette was performing in caught fire during ‘the Lion’s Bride’, one of his signature acts. The audience initially thought the flames part of the performance
The safety curtain was lowered, and because the stage door had been secured to prevent the lion’s escape, this condemned the performers to their doom. 11 people were killed.
Lafayette was cremated in Glasgow (Edinburgh wouldn’t get a crematoria until 1929). It was almost the wrong body - at first his body double for the act was identified as him. Lafayette’s body was later found under the stage and identified by the diamond ring he always wore
His ashes were taken back to Edinburgh and in a huge ceremony they were transferred to Piershill Cemetery. Beauty’s coffin was opened, and Lafayette’s ashes placed inside.
