Charles Dickens and Music

subject. His knowledge of song and ballad literature was extraordinary, and he did not fail to make good use of it. Not only are the quotations always well chosen and to the

r airs of the eighteenth century, of which 'Rule Britannia' and 'Sally in our Alley' are notable example

tiona

Besides those mentioned elsewhere we have the pic

entertaining book, pored over some hard-headed, harder-hearted treatise on arithmetic; when the ta

nally went to s

altic, while the crew sang 'Rule Britannia' as the ship went down, 'ending with one awful sc

many times over,' embodied the outlines of the British Constitution. It is perhaps unneces

ack man by whistling this tune with all his might and main

are supposed to declare (when it is wh

song in criticizing the workhouse system and its treatment of old people, and in the Am

lishman up! Could you give us "British Grenadiers," my fine fellow?' And the 'fine

performance Mr. Bucket, much enlivened, beats time, and never

referred to. In the description

al gentlemen joining in the chorus, and giving the national anthem an effect

th national independence, each one singing it according to his own ideas

o 'The Marseillaise' and '?a ira,' both of which Dickens

s is. It sent the most insurrectionary t

e words of this song were adapted in 1790 to the tune of 'Carillon National.' This was a favourite air of Marie Antoinette, and she frequently played it on the harpsichord. After

pley were on their way to America,

ething in his possession belonging to its strong-box besides the key [and who] grew eloq

but received its name from the fact that a band of soldiers going from Marseilles to Paris made the new melod

iend of his went to America, and wrote home saying he was always singing 'Ale Columbia.' In his American Notes Dickens tells about a Cleveland newspaper which anno

s from 1

eresting, but by no means easy. No one who has not had occasion to refer to them can have any idea of the hundreds, nay, of the thousands, of song-books that were turned out from the various presses under an infinitude of titles during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There is nothing like them at the present day, and the reasons for their publication have long ceased to exist. It should be explained that the great majority of these books contained the words only

tinction perhaps to Old Bailey, and possibly as involving the recollection of an unfortunate lady

ng by Mr. Mathews in the comic opera of Love Laughs at Locksmiths. It tells the

ich he placed in the room he was preparing for Florence Dombey. Other common titles are the 'Prentice's Warbler,' which Simon Tappertit used, 'Fairburn's Comic Songster,' and the 'Little Warbler,' which is mentioned two or three times.

ost haste f

ding dong

itted the la

han't need bid

e and there

izzle in Fielding's Tom Thumb

off. This was a ballad opera by Reeve and Mazzinghi, and the opening number is the popular duet 'See from ocean rising,' concerning which there is a humorous passage in '

here, without the remotest chance of ever getting up again. Th

ID

m ocean

ame, the

rove the v

rom Virginia ch

Virginia chas

ated by Incledon, the celebrated tenor, but there are still to be found basse

emporary

inment, to which some reference has already been made. Amongst the performers

ages, the first half hour of which aff

he Vauxhall programmes of those days. There are at least four songs, all of them len

edley written by Mr. L. Rede, and sung by

en Ages,' sung by Mr. J

s sung by Mr. Fuller (

s of Woman,' as s

seven ages of g

s Woman's I'll

g song, each verse being

and contains an account of a concert (real or imaginary) at the White Conduit House. This place of entertainment was situated in Penton Street, Islington, near the top of Pentonville Road, and when Dickens wrote his sketch the place had been in existence nearly a hundred years. Early i

ickleson, known in the profession as Rinaldo di Va

id it out on two three penn'orths of gin-and-water, which so brisked him

humour as depicted in the comic song, and it is unlikely that what passed for humour sixty years ago would appeal to

AT COULDN'

by J.

ment by J

re fond in s

cream and j

s how you

you're

who from

nd Shakey w

ok's did o

cooling, l

r, hot eno

ing him to

s corpus s

again f

d Shakey

ikey! Isn'

o, woo,

an that coul

An instance of the latter is MacDermott's 'Jingo' song 'We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do.' An illustration of the former comes from the coal strike of Ma

now what's

ty-two shil

poet adapted to the purposes of the Waxwork Exhibition, 'If I'd a

onkey wot

'd wollop hi

means I'd t

hate all

been like

n no occasion f

to prevent

e hea

donkey wot

d wollop him

some hay, a

me up

crying out his greens,' is ill-treating his do

f these Mr. M

ty for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' being established in 1824. Two years previously Parliament had passed what is known as Martin's Act (1822), which was the first step taken by this or any other country for the protection of animals. In Scene 7 of Sketches by Boz t

to the grandeur of his Christian name, so he always signed himself 'R. Wilfer.' Hence his neighbours provided him with all sorts of fancy names beginning with R,

dity, ro

y teedlely,

ng 'Jim Crow' (A.N.) took England by storm. It is useless to attempt to account for the remarkable popularity of this and many another favourite, but the fact remains

rt of 'Jim Crow.' The song soon went all over England, and 'Jim Crow' hats and pipes were all the rage, while Punch caricatured a statesman wh

window at the watering-place re

e original one, where a smooth male or female Pole of high rank are comin

ont' is derived therefrom. We give the first four lines, and leave our readers to draw their own conclusions. It i

ID

nster, no

a ratcatcher

t born in

her side of

Sin

have at least three orig

r Spring; on

ssoms and b

d be sung to the tune of 'Old King Cole,' though a little ingenui

vunce, on Ho

are Bess b

on appears to have been overlooked by composers until Sir Frederick Bridge set

rument; but anythin' for a quiet life, as the man

or a song to pass the time away, some protest they cannot, others wish they could, others can do nothing without the book, while the 'very fastidious lady entirely ignored the invitation to give them some little Italian thing out of the last opera.' A somewhat original plea for refusing to sing when asked is given by the chairman of the musical gathering at the Magpie and Stump (P.P.). When asked why he won't

g the party to Birmingham, and this suggests what a number of singers of all kinds are referred to, though no mention is made of

' ... said this gentleman ... '

I know one, sir

ith a gravity which admitted of no altercatio

to keep her rough companions in

was a boy,' while the man in the lighthouse (C.C.) consoled himself in his solitude with a 'sturdy' ditty. What was John Browdie's north-

e uttered by a gentle swain fast pining away

nrecorded, as well as those that Florence Dombey used to sing to Paul, to his

n the cavern of Memory; as if

Even old Fips, of Austin Friars, the dry-as-dust lawyer, sang songs to the delight of the company gathered round the festive board in Martin Chu

uld be musical, and we are not surprised when

hich appeared to have reference to the union between Church and State, in

ve been of a sub-conscious nature, f

nging comic songs within me,

he quotes 'Sally in our Alley' in reference to the form

for a song but bearing not the faintest resemblance to any scrap

gh it must be acknowledged that the references are of a humorous nature. 'Bass!' as the young gentleman in one of the Sketches remarks to his

lly lower and lower down, till he can't get back

voice of Captain Helves, a

e on one of Scrooge's

one, and never swell the large veins in h

s and eccentricities so thoroughly. In fact it seems to suggest that at some unknown perio

ge of the style of song

us than the generality informed the listener that some boastful bass was in blue water or the hunting field, or with the rein

t Dickens heard at Vauxhall, but the

usly; then the small gentleman went through a little piece of vehemence by himself, and got very tenor indeed, in the excitement of his feelings, to which the tall lady resp

P. we read of a boy of fourteen who was a tenor (not the fat boy), whi

ieved, her father, Mr. John Edward N

, like a worn-out bird, who had been in

her's talents, and in response to her

ephon he had hardly been up to since he went into retirement-and then would Mrs. Plorn

characters here referred to were constantly occurring. At a subsequent

us Strephon last night, to that degree that Plornish gets up and makes him this speech across the table, "John Edward Nandy," says Plornish to

ing his part in a bit of singing. He says, in re

've been taking a part in "White Sand and Grey Sand." I don't know anything about it

rable antiquity, though the dat

I or

nd and g

uy my wh

uy my gr

-Sin

adjured 'his friends to listen, listen, listen to the wa-ter-fall!' Little Swills was also an adept at 'patter and gags.' Glee and catch singing was a feature at the Christmas party given by Sc

ed beautifully. To be sure, they all sang the first part; and Horatio, in addition to the slight drawback of

been a feature in the socia

but no doubt you are best at home. Good-night, God bless you. "Tell me shepherds te-e-ell me: tell m

left the Blue Boar after the festivities

ly strong voice (in reply to the inquisitive bore who leads that piece of music in a most impertinent manner by wanting to know all abou

us is the one organized by the male boarders at Mrs. Tod

anything they could get.... If the two Miss Pecksniffs and Mrs. Todgers had perished by spontaneous combustion, and the serenade had been in honour of their ashes, it would have been impossible to surpass th

hail to the vessel of Pecksniff, the sire,' is a parody of Scott's 'All

nthems, but a seller of horses.' To this profession also Simpson belonged, on whom Mr. Pickwick was 'chummed' in the Fleet prison. A 'drum' is referred to in the description of the Lo

R.P.) this se

science has been wholly unable to account, was heard for the first and last ti

mystic remark. There were complaints about the acoustics of the St. Andrew's Hall many years ago, but there appears to b

at the drum.' It was only by a mere chance that his celebrated reference to King Charl

ly at me, and taking up his pen to note it down, 'when the

l the words after 'when,' and inse

he First had hi

pened in the year sixtee

say, but I don't see how that can be. Because if it was so long ago, how could the people about him ha

field his kite covered with manuscript, David was made to say in the proof: 'I thought I saw some allusion to the bull again in o

in the China Shop,' words by C. Dibdin, Junior, and music by W. Reeve. Produced a

of a frog in

d tale of a mo

u another as pl

that wore a

a far nobler su

o got into a

g, left leg, uppe

's day in t

) adapted "Belmont" from the highly classical melody of which a few bars are given above. Monk showed this gentleman the notes, being the actual arrangement he had made fro

situated in Southwark. It was closed about the mi