The Legend who was Rab Ha

Born over 150 years ago, Robert Hall, or 'Rab Ha' as he is better known now, was a rotund man who made a living from eating. His appetite earned him the title the 'Glesca Glutton', and was celebrated throughout the west of Scotland. Originally a farm laborer, he abandoned settled employment and chose the life of the vagrant after his mother threw him out for eating her “oot o’ hoose ’n hame”.

Many would pay to watch him devour tables of food, and he also made money from winning various gluttonous competitions such as pie eating. It was in this field that he became more widely known. He beat the ‘Yorkshire Pudding’, an English glutton of great renown. So great was his appetite that no one who wagered on his gastronomic powers were likely to lose. In fact it is recorded that he was only beaten once, and by a most curious dish - “a saucerful of oysters mixed with cream and ground lump sugar”.

His love of grub led to his early demise and due to health complications, died in a hayloft in Hutchesontown (south of the River Clyde) in 1843.

Rab Ha’s Snack Luncheon
Dorothy Whitaker

Eight stone o’ tatties,
A basket full o’ fish,
A basin crammed wi’ butter beans
Just starts his little dish:
Thirteen head o’ cabbage,
A cauldron choked wi’ sauce,
A barrow-load o’ turnips,
And Carrigeen moss,
Fivbe Stone o’ carrots,
Wi’ sausages fried broon,
And three Kelvin ponds o’ whisky
Tae wash the wee snack doon.