London Days

t." It overlooked the Swansea Valley, and stood about halfway between Brecon and the sea. When a traveller alighted at Penwylt there was no need to ask why he did so. He c

he steep road to the valley, a sudden turn showing the Patti palace there on the banks of the Tawe. The Castle was two miles distant and a thousand feet below the rai

an ear was her liege. And, literally, in Wales Patti was very like a queen. She lived in a palace; people came to her from the ends of the earth; she was attended with "love, honou

a dainty little woman with big brown eyes came running out from the centre of the company, stretched forth her hands, spoke a hearty welcome, and accompanied it with the inimitable smile which had made slaves o

were intimate friends, and chiefly a company of English girls who were passing the summer with her. In the evening, when all assembled in the drawing-room before going in to dinner, I f

n a company of court gallants in the "spacious days of great Elizabeth", and we added the modern tribute of applause, which our queen acknowledged with a silvery laugh. I remember only that the gown was white and of some silky stuff, and that about La Diva's neck were loops of pearls, and that above her fluffy chestnut hair were glittering jewels. With women it may be different, but mere man cannot give a list o

ordinary dinner custom of an English mansion. The menu, though, was stately enough, for the art of cookery was practised at Craig-y-Nos by a master who had earned the right to prepare dinners for Patti. The dining room was seldom used in summer for, handsome though that apartment is, Patti, and her guests, too, for that matter, preferred to be served in the great glass room which was formerly the conservatory and was still called so. There we sat, as far as outlook

aradise, and you have discovered the fountain of perpetual youth.

among the ugly Welsh hills.' He writes it in an American journa

ght of a too credulous pu

t were either the scene of Jack-the-Giant-Killer's exploits

illions. Her own home was far from being "humble", but it was before all things, a home. And she had earned it. There is not anyw

body liked a good joke better than Patti, and when she heard one that particularly pleased her she would interpret it to some guest who had not sufficient

a native tongue, or whether all of th

she replied, "only-let's see-English,

you speak best

o difference, as far as readiness goes

s your favourite, if you h

alian!

to hearing Patti sing, the sweetest sound

ompliment a little while ago-nearly three years ago. I w

mance he went on the stage to thank her for the pleasure she had given him. He complained a little of a cold which had been troubling him, and Patti begge

hesay

nbu

er 22

adame

am afraid, however, that the use of your lozenges will not mak

wn tongue, rendered with a delicacy of modulation and a fineness of utterance s

fully

GLAD

turn. After some talk of great folk she had known, I asked Ma

I can easily remember. During the ceremonies the Prince of Wales arose, and to my astonishment, proposed the health of his 'old and valued friend, Madame Patti.' He made such a pretty speech, and in the course of it said that he had first seen and heard me in Philadelphia in 1860, when I sang in 'Martha', and that since then his own attendance at what he was good enough to call my 'victories in the realm of song' had been among his pleasantest recollections. He recalled the fact that on one of the o

ences of us all and even from the extraordinary experiences of the renowned persons we hear about usually. But there was not a patch of vanity in Patti's sunny nature. Her life had been a long, unbroken record of success,-success to a degree attained by no other woman. No one else has won and held such homage; no one else had been so wondrously endowed with bea

t I don't believe it. I don't feel old. I feel yo

usiasm and none of the affectations of a young girl. When she spoke of herself it was

programme with gilt fringe, and it was topped by the Prince of Wales's feathers. At that Philadelphia performance Patti made her first appearance before royalty. In

rom America was entitled to a hearing," sai

, or has she become so much a citizen of the world that no corn

American people, the English cou

nts were Italian, you were born in Spain, you made your first professional appearance in America, yo

s endless social pleasures. 'Because, your Royal Highness,' I replied, 'I have a lovely home in Wales, and whenever I come away from it I leave my heart there.'

ed the most innocent pleasure in the world. When Patti spoke in that way she seemed to be wondering why people sho

mand in the United States than anywhere else in the world. So tell me something more about the Prince and Princess of Wales. I promise,

ual way just before the wedding of the Duke of York (King George V). They sent me an invitation to the wedding festivities. But alas! I could not go. I had just finished my season and was lying painfully ill with rheumatism. You heard of that? For weeks I suffered

kind and

ographs and fitted into great gilt frames. You shall see the portr

hall I say popular?) habit, but the company remained unbroken, and while the gentlemen smoked, the ladies kept them in conversation. Nowad

. But in another instant we were all at it, piping the chorus, and Patti leading off. The fun of the thing was infectious. The song finished, we ventured another, and Patti joined us in the refrains of a medley of music-hall airs, beginning with L

h look. "You will think

Besides, it's not everybody who

anza of "My Old Kentucky Home", and as we finished the chorus she lifted a clear, s

Patti put the questi

ing library: "High E." One of

he has the most wonderful throat I have ever seen," said Sir Morell. "It is the only one I have ever seen with the vocal cords in absolutely perfect condition after many years of use. They a

atti if she had taken extra

r strained for high notes. I have heard that the first question asked of new vocalists nowadays is 'How high can you sing?' Bu

ing to all accounts, you are the mo

er I like. My care is chiefly to avoid taking cold and to avoid indigestion. But the

rules for that? One hears of ast

les twenty minutes a day. After a long professional tour I let my

scourse most eloquent music" from a repertoire of one hundred and sixteen pieces, including arias from grand operas, military marches and simple ballads. Music, of course, is the fascinator that Patti cannot resist. The simplest melody stirs her to song. In the far corner from the orchestrion she would sit in a big easy-chair, and hum the air that rolled from the organ pipes, keeping time with h

rky songs," said she, and straightway she sang to us, with that inimitable clarity and tenderness which were hers alone, "Way Down upon the Su

ow his own devices until dinner time. He might go shooting, fishing, riding, walking, or he might stroll about the lovely demesne, and see what manner of heavenly nook nature and Patti had made for themselves among the hills of Wales. Patti's castle is in every sense a palatial dwelling. She saw it fifteen years before I did, fell in love with it, purchased it, and subsequently expended great sums in enlarging it. The castellated mansion, with the theatre at one end and the pavilion and winter garden at the other, has a frontage of

sitely decorated. Not only could the sloping floor be quickly raised, so that the auditorium might become a ballroom, but the appurtenances of the stage were elaborate and complete. For this statement I had the authority of the stage manag

or her personal friends. And so most of the performances in the little theatre were pantomimic. Although Patti seemed to me always to be humming and singing while I was at

nvisible height a shower of joyous melody. No one amongst us stirred, or made a sound. La Diva thought us far away up the valley, where we had planned an excursion, but we had postponed the project to a cooler day. We remained silent, listening. Our unseen entertainer seemed to be flitting about her boudoir, singing as she flitted, snatching a bar or two from this opera and that, revelling in the fragment of a b

ried the birdli

saw Patti leaning

n't help it, really I co

le after ten. Some musicians were brought from Swansea. A dozen gentlefolk hastily summoned from the valley, those among the guests who were not enrolled for the pantomime, and a gallery full of cottagers and servants made up the audience. We had "a

nge of occupation is the best possible rest. You seem to work as hard at

le woman. "I love the theatre. And, then, there is always something to learn

akes rattling along the smooth country roads. You could see at once that this was Pattiland. The cottagers came

ke "Ist-rag-dun-las"), one afternoon. "I would like to build another castle and put all those mites into it, and let them live there

f, table, and cabinet was packed with gifts which Patti had received from all parts of the earth, from monarchs and millionaires, princes and peasants, old friends and strangers. There was Marie Antoinette's watch, to begin with, and there were portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales, to end with. There was a remarkable collection of portraits of royal personages, presented to Patti by the distinguished originals on the occasion of her

ld pluck a rose from her garden, or gather a nosegay from a hedgerow, and it would please her as much as if it were a diadem. She valued the thought that prompted the giving, rather than the gift itself. She never forgot even

me precious jewel that Patti had given her that morning,-a ring, a brooch, a bracelet, as the case might be. For the generous creature thought her fair friends would b

e and jewels. What a dinner-party we had that night,-we men, in the prim black and white of evening dress, sitting there with "Leonora" and "Desdemona" and "Marguerite" and "Rachel" and "Lucia" and "

oming to later days, Scalchi and Annie Louise Carey. The latter, being an American and a friend, I was glad to hear this appreciation of her from the Queen of Song. "Carey

the parliamentary mann

wo hours' entertainment every night for two months without repeating a scene. Patti invited me to sit beside her and watch the dissolving views. It seemed to me that it would be like this to sit beside Queen Victoria during a "State performance" at Windsor, only not half so much fun! Here was Patti Imperatrice, dressed like a

s tugged slowly up the mountain side, the Stars and Stripes saluted me fro