JK GILLON

Old Malabar was one of the most colourful of Glasgow's street entertainers during much of the 19th century. His real name was Patrick Feeny and he was born in Ireland in 1800, the son of a poor farmer. He spent some years as apprentice to a Chinese juggler and made his first appearance at the Glasgow Fair in 1822.

He was an expert juggler and the highlight of his performance was to toss a heavy ball high in the air and catch in a leather cup strapped to his forehead. He had a badly battered nose as evidence of a number of missed catches. Old Malabar always performed in Oriental costume and he was the best known and most popular of Glasgow's buskers at the time

He died in November, 1883 and a Glasgow waxworks owner paid his funeral expenses, in exchange for his death mask and juggling equipment. The death mask has been lost; but the juggling equipment was purchased by the People's Palace Museum.