Sir Harry Lauder lived at his Strathaven estate from 1936 until his death in 1950.The house, Lauder Ha’, was built using sandstone from the recently demolished Hamilton Palace. Lauder received many famous faces at the Ha’ including Laurel and Hardy, Bob Hope and Sir Winston Churchill. During the Second World War Churchill was inspired by Lauder’s songs; when he received the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 1942, Churchill stated that Lauder’s songs had given “comfort and renewed strength to many a burdened heart”. When Lauder fell ill in 1949, Churchill wrote to him and incorporated some of his lyrics in a good wishes letter: “grand old minstrel, keep right on to the end of the road.”