Lulu

I enjoyed Lulu's exploration of her roots on Who Do You Think You Are? We come from the same city and are about the same age, and I'm happy to see Lulu has kept her looks. I also appreciate the fact that she is humble about her beginnings and grateful for the help she got to get her music career started when she was 15.

Her discoveries about her family epitomised for me what Glasgow (Liverpool too) was about in the late 19th and 20th centuries: for many, it can be summed up in one word: sectarianism. I laughed when the historian showed Lulu the map of Glasgow at the time and pointed out districts according to whether the residents were Catholic or Protestant. He insisted there was no 'ghettoisation' and then went on to make it clear that's exactly what it was. To me, it looks as if the working class had next to nothing and religion kept them fighting among themselves to be top of the dunghead, instead of fighting for a decent wage and good housing for everyone.

Lulu's great grandmother was a pillar of the Orange Lodge. Her grandmother, however, fell for a right bad yin. The least of his faults was that he was a Catholic. He was also a street fighter, couldn't hold down a job and probably ran with a gang. He was in and out of jail for years. The marriage was a disaster. For the parents and the 7 kids they produced. Lulu's grandmother died aged 31. One child, Lulu's mother, was 'boarded out' with another family and her brother referred to her as 'the lucky one.' She died never knowing her family history.

It was good to see all this laid out in front of us but I hope for most people living in Scotland nowadays, this is an old, old story, and about as relevant as Gulliver's Travels.