Stories of famous songs
Fitz-Gerald, S. J. Adair (Shafto Justin Adair), 1859-1925
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PAGE Introduction 9 I. — "Home, Sweet Home" 19 II. — "Robin Adair and Eileen Aroon" ... 31 III. — "Auld Lang Syne" 46 IV. — "La Marseillaise" 61 V. — "The Mistletoe Bough" 77 VI. — "Ever of Thee" 90 VII. — "Die Wacht am Rhein," "Die Schwert- lied," "Kutschke Lied," and other German Songs • * . . . 105 VIII. — The "Star-Spangled Banner," "Yankee Doodle," and other American Songs . . 121 IX. — " Auld Robin Gray," and " Les Constantes Amours d'Alix et d' Alexis" , . , . . 144 X. — "Kathleen Mavourneen" and "Katty Avourneen" 160 XL — " The Last Rose of Summer," " The Bells of Shandon," and " The Exile of Erin" 175 XII. — Concerning some Favourite Songs .... 190 " Blondel," " Annabel Lee," " My Pretty Jane," " The Lass of Richmond Hill," " Sally in our Alley," "The Roast Beef of Old England," " Hearts of Oak," and u Rule Britannia." 5 CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. CHAP. PAGE XIII. — Henry Russell's Songs and Others ... 211 " Woodman spare that Tree/' " Cheer, Boys, Cheer/' " A Good Time Coming/' " A Life on the Ocean Wave/' " Come where my Love lies Dreaming/' " Rest, Trou- bled Heart," "The Gypsy Countess," and "The Beat- ing of my own Heart/' XIV. — About some More Favourite Songs . . . 227 " The Postman's Knock," " Rousseau's Dream," " The Old Hundredth," " The Savoy," " There is a Happy Land," " Little Drops of Water," " The Vicar of Bray," " Lilliburlero," " Ye Mariners of England," " Ye Gentlemen of England," " Excelsior," " The Old Clock on the Stairs/' and " The Village Blacksmith." ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. I. PAGE Rev. Samuel Francis Smith .... Frontispiece Author of " America" Home of John Howard Payne (Author of " Home, Sweet Home"), East Hampton, Long Island 22 From the painting by George B. Wood Rouget de Lisle Singing the "Marseillaise" for the First Time 62 From the painting by G. Guffens. Property of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts "Oh, Name the Day, the Wedding Day" ... 198 From the painting by W. Magrath St. Paul's Cathedral . 234 INTRODUCTION ¥¥ This work is the practical proof of some fifteen years' agreeable labour in the fields of lyric literature and song lore. These histories, as far as possible accurate, of all the world's most famous and popular songs and ballads, have been gathered from all sorts of available sources, books, magazines, and newspapers, and living representatives and friends of deceased writers. Many of the particulars as to origin, authorship, and outcome of several of the ballads and pieces here appear in print for the first time; while nothing has been set down without due investigation and confirmation of the veracity of the various details and statements. Tracing the history of a favourite song, though interest- ing and enchanting, is no easy task. You may have to turn over a score books without gain- ing any reliable knowledge whatever. You cannot take a song and run it to earth, so to speak ; the truth must slowly accumulate and grow. In writing these Stories of Famous Songs I have consulted every possible authority, every likely work — biographies, histories, re- 9 INTRODUCTION miniscences, and collections of songs — and have done my utmost to make the information absolutely authentic and trustworthy. I have, during the period I have had the work in hand, referred to many hundred sources, and have left no possible or probable clue untouched in order to make the history and origin of our best known and most beloved songs complete. To give a list of the writers and the works and the papers, manuscript and printed, that I have laid under contribution, would be to fill pages ; but throughout the different chapters I mention most of the authorities to whom I may have been mostly indebted, and to all I tender my thanks : to the writers — known and unknown — and to many friendly correspondents who have assisted me in my searches and in the compilation of my facts. Of course there are dozens of songs — familiar friends to hundreds of people — that will not be found in this volume. If there is no history of any moment connected with the com- position of any particular song, it is impossible to tell one. Now and then I have made passing reference to some famous production whose origin lies buried in obscurity, but for the most part I have confined myself to the pleasure of relating the stories of such lays and lyrics as 10 INTRODUCTION were written under some romantic, pathetic, or entertaining circumstances. Though many a favourite song may be missing from these pages, I do not think that one, with which there is any history associated as to its inception and birth, has been omitted — that is, not any cele- brated effusion. While aiming all the time at accuracy and truth as to the development of the world's famous musical ballads, my object has been to produce, not so much a pedantic reference guide or dictionary for the library, as an entertaining, amusing, and instructive work that shall appeal to the hearts and sympathies of all true lovers of songs with music. In dealing with the Irish and the Scottish sections I have striven to be just to each* When selected portions of the " Stories'' were appearing in " Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper," I was assailed quite violently by certain Scottish gentlemen, who were highly indignant with me for various statements I made as to who wrote and who did not write particular songs that had generally been accepted as having been born in Scotland. But nobody has yet proved that abuse is either argument or logic, and as I have found no reason to alter the views I originally expressed, they remain exactly as I n INTRODUCTION first wrote them down, except in one or two instances where I have been enabled to strengthen my convictions. With the sore point that has long vexed the patriotic pride of Hibernia and Caledonia as to the nationality of the music of many old ballads I have nothing to do; but as some modern Scottish writers are apt to claim most of the ancient airs as springing from their own country or countrymen, I venture to quote from a letter written by Robert Burns to his friend and publisher Thomson in 1793, when a National Collection of Scottish Songs was in progress. "Your Irish airs are pretty, but they are downright Irish. If they were like the ' Banks of Banna* for instance, though really Irish, yet in the Scottish taste, you might adopt them. Since you are so fond of Irish music, what say you to twenty-five of them in an additional number ? We could easily find this quantity of charming airs : I will take care that you shall not want songs ; and I assure you you would find it the most saleable of the whole." While Thomson admits in a letter to Burns, February 5th, 1796, the high quality of Irish melodies, he annexes them, at the same time reconciling him- self to the act of spoliation in this way : " We have several true-born Irishmen on the 12 INTRODUCTION Scottish list, but they are now naturalized and reckoned our own good sitbjects. Indeed, we have none better!' For the rest, I have been impartial and given honour where I have honestly believed or dis- covered it to be due. In treating of the history and origin of these Famous Songs, not only of our own country but of other lands, it has seemed inevitable that I should begin with " Home, Sweet Home," and end with the much-discussed " God Save the King." It also seems imperative that I should refer to that frequently quoted Fletcher of Saltoun. and his well-worn aphorism about making the ballads of a country. " Poets," as Emerson has finely said, " should be lawgivers ; that is, the boldest lyric inspiration should not chide or insult, but should commence and lead the civil code and the day's work." It was in reference to this class of song that Fletcher of Saltoun, in his " Account of a Conversation concerning the right Regulations of Govern- ments for the common good of mankind," ut- tered his famous dictum, or rather repeated it, to the Earl of Montrose, in 1703 : " The poorer sort of both sexes," he exclaimed, " are daily tempted to all manner of wickedness by infa- mous ballads sung in every corner of the streets. 13 INTRODUCTION I know," he continues, " a very wise man that believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, we need not care who should make the laws of a nation. And we find that most of the ancient legislators thought they could not well reform the manners of any city with- out the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic poet." It is certain that our songs have not only made history of themselves but for those who have sung and listened to them. Moreover, song and ballad making has ever been held in the highest repute by all classes, and still remains one of the best testimonials to man's sterling quality and literary capacity. Though, as the Russian proverb has it, " It is not every song that is sung to its last verse." In this volume I have given as many of the Welsh as I found tolerably general ; and though the information concerning American songs is surprisingly difficult to obtain this side of the Atlantic, and rather scant when secured, I think I have succeeded in saying something about most of the old favourites known in Great Britain. I have not included any songs from the Isle of Man, as they do not seem to me to be, except in a few instances, sufficiently dis- tinctive. Besides, they are mostly unknown outside the Island, and do not possess any start- 14 INTRODUCTION ling novelty in the way of origin. At the same time I would like to draw consideration to a useful collection of " Manx National Songs," edited by W. H. Gill, and published in 1896. I should also like to direct attention to that monumental work in eight volumes, " English Minstrelsie," edited by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, as being the most comprehensive collection of English songs ever published. That I could have extended this volume into many without going beyond my originally con- ceived scheme, will be patent to all who know anything of the existence of the unexplored and half explored mines of literary and antiquarian wealth of this fascinating subject. I trust I have at least succeeded in drawing a larger attention to the principal gems than can possibly be secured by more learned and exclusive publica- tions devoted to the entertaining themes of songs and music. " My true intent is all for your delight." Chaucer gives a character to the Knight in the " Canterbury Tales" by saying : " He could songes make, and wel indite ;" and that arch rascal, Falstaff, exclaims : " I had rather than forty shillings I had my Book of Songs and Sonnets here," for the pleasures of a sweet song have no end. And though many poets " learn IS INTRODUCTION in sorrow what they teach in song," they at any rate teach what we are glad to know and appre- ciate. Great Britain for many hundred years, has been singularly rich in songs, ballads, and madrigals of all kinds ; May Day songs, Christ- mas carols, Easter and Whitsun madrigals, catches, canons, roundels and lyrics of high life and humble life; Shakespeare's and Ben Jonson's incomparable lyrics, to say nothing of the love- lyrics of other Elizabethan masters of verse and the Cavalier poets; and writers of all ages, English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh : no other nation can show such variety, such charm as we favoured Britons possess in our countless melodies. If words were given us to conceal our thoughs, music must have been given us to ex- press them, to turn our tears to laughter and our laughter to tears ; to make our brief joys long and our worst sorrows brief. For what more thrilling voice is there than the voice of music — the voice of all our passions blended into witching melody or soul-inspiring har- mony ? The most popular and the most appreciated music with all classes is the music of Song. Tender words wedded to sympathetic music will do more to move the multitude than all the 16 INTRODUCTION wealth promises of the Indies. And though few- seek to know the origin of the songs that please them, the telling of the tale always adds to their attraction. Of course there are many- ballads that have lived through all the ages, many more that have yet to be handed to pos- terity, that have no tangible history at all, that are simply the glorious outcome of the poet's fancy and the composer's art, but there are also many that were born of pain, perhaps misery, of patriotism, and of love, and of many of these I have endeavoured to tell. S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald. Wimbledon, August, 1897. 17 Stories of Famous Songs CHAPTER I 11 HOME, SWEET HOME" "Home, Sweet Home," which is so essentially an English song in sentiment and feeling, was, curiously enough, written by an American, John Howard Payne. Perhaps though, as he was a nomad the greater part of his feverish existence, it were fitter to describe him as a Cosmopolitan, for truly, in any case, Art is ever cosmopolitan. But the song was first sung in an English opera, or operatic melodrama, entitled " Clari, the Maid of Milan," the words being written by John Howard Payne, and the music composed and arranged by Sir Henry Bishop, who was decidedly English. Of this song it has been well asserted by Dr. Charles Mackay, that it is not too much to say that it " has done more than statesmanship or legislation to keep alive in the hearts of the people the virtues that flourish at the fireside, and to recall to its hal- 19 STORIES OF lowed circle the wanderers who stray from it." Round both words and music of this ever- green song, controversy has raged for years, but I think by what follows, which is all based on the most reliable information, I shall be able to set these differences at rest for ever. Of the words of the opera of " Clari " I think there can be no doubt whatever of their having emanated from Howard Payne, though the bio- grapher of M. J. O'Sullivan, a dramatic author and contemporary of Payne's, asserts that he (O'Sullivan) had a hand in the composition. But I have been unable to trace any grounds for the claim. Payne undoubtedly wrote the lyric, though I have often wondered whether the unfortunate author of this very sweet song — a song that will only cease to live when all Nature is dead and Time is no more — ever read the old holiday and breaking-up song " Dulce Domum," so popular at Winchester School, for it certainly contains many of the elements of Payne's plaintive ballad. Here is the first verse with its chorus : " Sing a sweet melodious measure, Waft enchanting rays around, Home ! a theme replete with pleasure, Home ! a grateful theme resound. 20 FAMOUS SONGS " Home, sweet home ! an ample treasure, Home ! with every blessing crown' d. Home ! perpetual source of pleasure, Home ! a noble strain resound. ' ' Brand says, in speaking of " Dulce Domum," which was originally written in Latin, and was translated into English by a writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for March 1796, that " it is doubtless of very remote antiquity," and that its origin must be traced "not to any ridiculous tradition, but to the tenderest feelings of human nature." The story runs as follows : Upwards of two hundred and fifty years ago, a scholar of St. Mary's College, Winchester, was confined for some misconduct by order of the master, just previous to the Whitsuntide vaca- tion, and was not permitted to visit his friends. He was kept a prisoner in the college, tied to a pillar. His reflections on the enjoyments of home inspired him to compose " Dulce Domum." The student must have been of a very sensitive na- ture, for he died soon after, " worn down with grief at the disgraceful situation he was in," as well as disappointment. In commemoration of the event, on the evening preceding the Whitsun holidays, the masters, scholars, and choristers of St. Mary's College, attended by a band of music, walk in procession round the court and 21 STORIES OF the pillar to which it is alleged the scholar was tied, and chant the verses whieh he composed in his affliction. Payne, as far as can be gathered, wrote the words of " Home, Sweet Home" one dreary day in October, 1822, while he was far from home in Paris. John Howard Payne was the son of William Payne, a schoolmaster who was favour- ably known as an elocutionist in New York, where young Payne was born on April 1, 1791. Much against the desire of his father, the future author abandoned commerce, for which he was intended, and took to the precarious profession of actor. He was not without ability, for he made a very successful first appearance at the Park Theatre, New York, in the character of Norval, in " Douglas," in February, 1807. For some years Payne continued to act in various parts of America, and occasionally contributed articles to New York papers and journals. Not satisfied with his success in America, he was anxious to learn the verdict of a British audience. He entered the English metropolis with excellent credentials, having letters of introduction to Lord Byron, John Kemble, Coleridge, and other celebrities of the day. In 1813 he made his bow at Drury Lane Theatre, choosing for his debut his former role of Norval, 22 FAMOUS SONGS and, according to all accounts, he greatly pleased the critics as well as the playgoers. But it was very difficult in those days to continue a favourite with the fickle public, nothing short of a genius — which Payne was not — being re- quired to satisfy their desires. So after a while Payne exchanged acting for writing, and took to translating French melodramas and operettas. The " Maid and the Magpie " was his first offer- ing, and it enjoyed a fair meed of favour at Covent Garden Theatre. Edmund Kean made " Brutus," a tragedy by Payne, a success by the force of his subtle and powerful acting. Charles Kemble also acted in Payne's " Charles II.," a whimsical comedy revived as a first piece some years ago at the Lyceum. " Love in Humble Life" from the French by Payne is occasionally played in the provinces, but very few of his pieces exhibited any great literary skill or power. As to " Home, Sweet Home," only two verses of the song were sung originally. These were slightly altered and sung by Miss Maria Tree in " Clari, the Maid of Milan," also an adapta- tion, of the virtuous peasant and villainous lord order. For this, however, Payne received from Charles Kemble ^250, no mean sum in those days of short runs. The piece was produced at 23 STORIES OF Covent Garden Theatre on May the 8th, 1823, and continued to hold the boards at intervals for some years. The music of this " musical drama" — there were only six numbers — was composed by Henry Bishop, and the melody of " Home, Sweet Home" was said to have been adapted from a Sicilian air, but this is erroneous. Miss Tree created quite a furore by her singing of the touching melody, and the words going straight to the hearts of the audience, it was not long before the song became marvellously popu- lar all over the country, soon to penetrate to the farthermost parts of the world. It is stated that more than 300,000 copies of the song were sold the first year of publication. Now in regard to the words of " Home, Sweet Home," nearly twenty years after the author's death, when the subject of the music was being discussed, there appeared in the London " Daily Telegraph," a letter signed J. R. Planche, in which the writer asserted that with the full con- sent of the author, " I undertook the revision of it (the play). I cut nearly a third of the dialogue, which was of terrific length. The ballad in question (' Home, Sweet Home/) con- sisted originally of two verses of eight lines each. I reduced them to four : and at the sug- gestion of Mr. Bishop added the refrain of 24 FAMOUS SONGS 1 home, sweet home.' " And yet, Mr. Planche allows Payne to have the full right and honour of the authorship of the words all his life, and not till twenty years after his death does he come forward with his claim. But long before this Michael John O'Sullivan, a journalist and writer of plays, gave it out that he not only wrote the song, but also the opera of " Clari " ! Of course it would be quite logical for a theat- rical manager to pay an author two hundred and fifty pounds for a work he did not write ! — the sum that Kemble paid Payne for a piece that was written, according to their version, by Mr. Planche and Mr. O'Sullivan — not in collabora- tion, but separately ! And not only that. They allowed Payne's name to appear nightly in the bills and to be advertised on the song, and advertised on the book of the words, as published by Lacy in the Strand. Here is the title-page. " Clari, the Maid of Milan! A musical drama, in two acts, by John Howard Payne, Author of ' Brutus/ ' The Lancers/ ' Love in Humble Life/ 'Charles the Second/ 'AH Pacha/ etc., etc.,, I think that should settle the matter. O'Sullivan's claim may be dismissed forthwith. As for Mr. Planche, we fancy his memory was playing him a trick — he was over eighty-two when he wrote the letter quoted 25 STORIES OF above, and after the lapse of sixty years an inci- dent may get entangled with something else. Payne was a personal and intimate friend of Kemble's, and it does not seem at all probable that he would permit any one but the author to hack about the piece he was producing. Before continuing with Payne's life, let me explain the origin of the melody, as related by the late Charles Mackay, who wrote to a Lon- don paper a long letter on the subject, affirming distinctly that Sir Henry Bishop did compose the air. Said Dr. Mackay, " During the process of our (Sir Henry's and his own) work on the National Melodies of England, I was thrown into friendly and constant intercourse with that gentleman. During one of our many conversa- tions on well-known English melodies, I took occasion to ask for information on the subject of ' Home, Sweet Home,' the authorship of which was often attributed to him and as often denied by many who claimed it as a national Sicilian air which Sir Henry had disinterred and re- arranged. He thereupon favoured me with the whole history. He had been engaged in his early manhood by the once eminent firm of Goulding, D'Almaine and Co., musical pub- lishers, of Soho Square, to edit a collection of National Melodies of all countries. In the 26 FAMOUS SONGS course of his labours he discovered that he had no Sicilian air, and as a Sicilian melody had been announced Sir Henry thought he would invent one. The result was the now well-known air of ' Home, Sweet Home/ which he arranged to the verses of Howard Payne. Pirates were in the field as now, and believing the air to be Sicilian and non-copyright, they commenced issuing the song in a cheaper form, but Messrs. Goulding, D'Almaine and Co., brought actions against the offenders and won the day on the sworn evidence of Sir Henry Bishop, who de- clared himself to be the inventor of the same." This should decide the matter for all time. To return to Payne. After the success of " Clari" affairs seemed to have gone badly with him, for in the year 1832 we find him in New York having a " benefit" got up for him at the Park Theatre to start him afresh. He then subsisted on the income derived from journal- istic work until he was appointed Consul at Tunis, but he soon lost this appointment owing to the change of government, and he once more contributed to the Press. However, some good friends used their influence and, in consideration of the fact that he was the first American dramatist who had made any name at all, Payne was eventually reinstated at Tunis. But he 27 STORIES OF had barely undertaken the duties a twelvemonth when he died, on his sixty-first birthday, in 1852, and was buried at Tunis. His remains, after a lapse of more than thirty years, were removed to Oak Cemetery, Washington, where a monument, erected by public subscription, marks the spot where rest his ashes. In Tunis, by the way, there was still, some ten years back, a tomb in the Protestant burying ground with the follow- ing inscription : " In memory of Colonel John Howard Payne, twice Consul of the United States of America for the city and kingdom of Tunis, this stone is here placed by a grateful Country. He died in the American Consulate in this City after a tedious illness April 1st, 1 85 2." And then particulars were given of his birth in the City of Massachusetts, and spoke of his merits as a poet and dramatist. Round the tombstone were engraved the following lines : * * Sure, when thy gentle spirit fled To realms beyond the azure dome, With arms outstretched, God' s angel said : Welcome to Heaven's Home, Sweet Home." And now I append " Home, Sweet Home," as it was first written : 28 FAMOUS SONGS i( 'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ; A charm from the sky seems to carry us there, Which, seek through the world, is not met with elsewhere. Home ! home ! sweet, sweet home ! There's no place like home, there's no place like home. " An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain ; Oh, give me my lowly thatched cottage again ; The birds sing gaily that came at my call — Give me them with the peace of mind dearer than all, Home ! home ! sweet, sweet home ! There's no place like home, there's no place like home. " How sweet, too, to sit 'neath a fond father's smile, And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile, Let others delight 'mid new pleasures to roam, But give me, oh, give me ! the pleasures of home ! Home ! home ! sweet, sweet home ! There' s no place like home, there' s no place like home. " To thee I'll return, overburdened with care ; The heart' s dearest face will smile on me there, No more from that cottage again will I roam, Be it ever so humble, there' s no place like home. Home ! home ! sweet, sweet home ! There's no place like home, there's no place like home." The sweet sadness that pervades this simple little domestic poem is exquisitely expressive of the melancholy felt by poor Payne when he penned the lines, alone, in a foreign country (he was stranded in Paris at the time) away from all that he held dear. 29 STORIES OF Payne, I may add, was an intimate friend of Charles Lamb, who conducted much of his play business in London for him, while he was abroad. A pleasing incident recorded by the " Phila- delphia Record" may fittingly close this account. " No common poet ever received a more enviable compliment than one paid to John Howard Payne by Jenny Lind, on his last visit to his native land. It was in the great National Hall of the City of Washington where the most distinguished audience that had ever been seen in the capital of the Republic was assembled. The matchless singer entranced the vast throng with her most exquisite melodies — ' Casta Diva' the 'Flute Song/ the 'Bird Song/ and the 1 Greeting to America/ But the great feature of the occasion seemed to be an act of inspira- tion. The singer suddenly turned her face to the part of the auditorium where Payne was sitting and sang ' Home, Sweet Home/ with such pathos and power that a whirlwind of excitement and enthusiasm swept through the v^st audience. Webster himself almost lost his self-control, and one might readily imagine that Payne thrilled with rapture at this unexpected and magnificent rendition of his own immortal lyric/' 30 FAMOUS SONGS CHAPTER II " ROBIN ADAIR AND EILEEN AROON" Perhaps in the whole range of songs new and old, none is so popular as the plaintive " Robin Adair," the air of which is based upon the very- ancient melody of " Eileen Aroon," a piece that dates back to very early times indeed. At a venture I would suggest about 1450, when living money was still in use, as in the first stanza the hero says he would spend a cow to entertain his lady love. It is only fair to add, however, that some authorities think it is no older than the sixteenth century. In any case it was a favourite with the majority of the Irish harpers and wandering minstrels, and most emphatically it is not of Scottish origin, as one or two writers have imagined. The curious thing about the song is that the words of both versions, " Eileen Aroon" (Ellen, the treasure of my heart), and " Robin Adair" were the outcome of very romantic circumstances. I shall deal with each, and I shall also give the history of the ancient and the modern song. Let me speak of the 31 STORIES OF music first. The melody was taken down in 1792 by Edward Bunting (though already a variation of the same had been secured by Lyons in 1702) who has done so much to preserve the music of Old Ireland, from the playing of a famous harper, Denis a Hampsy, or Hempson. Hempson was born in 1695, and lived to the great age of one hundred and twelve years, having died in 1807. At the age of about eighteen, having been a harper from the age of twelve (he lost his sight at three through small-pox) Hempson com- 32 FAMOUS SONGS menced a tour of Ireland and Scotland which lasted until 17 16. Now the Scotch claimed the melody, and published it to the British public under the name of " Robin Adair" about 1 800. The grounds for this assumption, Hardiman informs us in his " Irish Minstrelsy," published in 1 83 1, appear in the correspondence between Robert Burns and his publisher, Thomson, in 1793. The latter, in a letter to the bard, wishes him to give " Robin Adair" (meaning of course " Eileen Aroon") a Scottish dress. " Peter (Pindar) is furnishing him with an English suit. Robin's air is excellent, though he certainly has an out-of-the-way manner as ever poor Parnas- sian wight was plagued with." In reply Burns says that he believes the air to be Scotch, having heard it played by a man from Inverness, so that " it could not be Irish" (the question had arisen between them) though he admits that through the wandering habits of the minstrels, the air might be common to both. As a matter of fact, it was Hempson who carried the air to Scotland between i7ioand 17 16, and the High- land minstrels annexed it. During his second visit to Scotland, in 1745, Hempson was taken into the Young Pretender's presence by Colonel Kelly of Roscommon, and Sir Thomas Sheri- dan, when he played and sang " When the King 3 33 STORIES OF shall enjoy his own again" as a compliment to Charles Edward. He also played " Cooling " The Dawning of the Day," " Eileen Aroon," " Cean dubh dilis," etc. ; so there is no doubt as to how so many of the Irish melodies, in- cluding " Maggie Lauder," came to be num- bered amongst the Scottish national airs. Thus it was only natural that when Burns was asked to dress " Robin Adair" in the kilt, he should have already heard the song. But, for some reason unknown, Burns did not write or re- write the words, though the erudite Dr. Charles Mackay assumes that he did, as those interested will gather from the " Royal Edition of Songs of Scotland" still published. Again, Robin Adair was a real personage, an Irishman, but not the ancestor of Viscount Molesworth, as is generally believed, who lived at Holly Park, in the County of Wicklow. This was another Robin Adair, who had no connection with the song, though tradition has tried to fix it so. At Bray, in Wicklow, by the way, there is still a " Robin Adair's" well. This Robin's house stood at the foot of the great Sugar-loaf moun- tain (properly Slieve Cullinn). The real Robin Adair was most likely a grandson of Patrick Adair of Ballymena, County Antrim, whose son, Sir Robert, married four times and had 34 FAMOUS SONGS many children, and Robin might have been one of these. Adair, I may state, is most essentially Irish, and as " old as the hills/' or perhaps I should say trees, as the name is de- rived from Diarmaid and Diarmah — the good Dair, the oak — there are other variants, but the meaning and etymology are the same. Adair, therefore, means " of the oak." The true story of " Eileen Aroon" appears almost word for word in the " Gentleman's Magazine" for 1827, and in " Hardiman's Min- strelsy" of 1831. It is as follows: Carol O'Daly, commonly called " Mac Caomh Insi Cneamha," brother to Donogh More O'Daly, a man of much consequence in Connaught, was one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his time, and particularly excelled in poetry and music. He paid his addresses to Eileen, or Ellen as we should say now, the daughter of a Chieftain named Kavanagh ; she was a lovely and amiable young lady who returned his affec- tion, but her friends disapproved of the connec- tion, for, it is believed, political reasons. Carol O'Daly was obliged to leave the country for a time, and her family availed themselves of the opportunity, which his absence afforded, of im- posing upon Eileen a belief in his (supposed) faithlessness, and of his having gone to be mar- 35 STORIES OF ried to another ; and after some time they pre- vailed upon her to consent to marry a rival of O' Daly's. The day was fixed for the nuptials, but O'Daly returned the evening before. Under the first influence of his disappointment, he sought a wild sequestered spot on the sea-shore, and inspired by love, composed the song of " Eileen Aroon." Disguised as a harper he gained access among the crowd that thronged to the wedding. It happened that he was called by Eileen herself to play and sing. It was then touching the harp with all the pathetic sensi- bility which the interesting and dramatic occa- sion incited, he infused his own feelings into the song he had composed, and breathed into his " softened strain" the very soul of plaintive melody. In the first stanza he intimates, ac- cording to Irish idiom, that he would walk with her, that is, be her partner for life, or constant lover for life. Guisto Ferdinand Tenducci was born about 1736, and first sang in London in 1758, when he at once became the idol of the fashionable world and was invited out everywhere to private 37 STORIES OF parties and At-Homes. Doubtless he met Lady Caroline Keppel at one of the great houses, and we hear of him singing first " Eileen Aroon," and then " Robin Adair/' at Ranelagh Gardens in 1762, presumably with Lady Catharine's words. Tenducci was quite a spoiled darling, and lived very wastefully. He ran through one fortune and nearly made another. He died early in the present century, at his native place in Italy. It may be added that in the days of Elizabeth " Eileen Aroon" was sung by a large majority of the people in the streets. There is a curious similarity, by the way, between " Eileen Aroon" and the melody Scott's " Loch- nivar" used to be sting to. In the west and other parts of Ireland the peasantry still sing " Eileen" and will have nothing to do with the modern song. It may be mentioned that the tribe of O'Daly furnished several bards of celebrity. Donogh More O'Daly, Lord Abbot of Boyle in 1244, was a famous poet, emphatically styled the Ovid of Ireland, from the sweetly flowing melody of his verse. Now we cometo Robin Adair. The real Robin was a native of Ballymena, County Antrim, and in all probability a descendant of the Des- mond Fitz-Geralds, "the mighty Geraldines." 38 FAMOUS SONGS His father was probably made a knight-baronet after the battle of the Boyne. The new version of the song was written about 1750 by Lady Caroline Keppel to Robert, or Robin Adair, with whom she was deeply in love. I will re- peat the story as it is handed down. About a century and a half ago, an impulsive young Irishman named Robert Adair, who was studying in Dublin for the medical profession, got into some scrape, and as he possessed little money and few friends, the only way he saw out of the difficulty was flight. So he speedily quitted Dublin and made his way to Holyhead, with the intention of going to that golden city of ambitious youth, London. Post travelling in those days was very expensive, and when Adair reached Holyhead, he discovered that his purse was as light as his heart ; consequently he had nothing to do but accept the inevitable, and so he manfully set out to walk to the me- tropolis. He had not gone far when he came upon a carriage that had been overturned, for the roads at that time were in a horrible con- dition. The owner and occupant of the vehicle a well-known leader of fashionable society, was greatly alarmed at the accident, and had be- sides, received some slight personal injury. Adair, like a true Irishman, at once offered his 39 STORIES OF services, and in a very short space of time had the carriage righted, and the lady, carefully attended to. Adair was a very handsome and aristocratic young fellow, and notwithstanding that his dress might have been of finer texture and in better condition, he had a striking appearance. With ready frankness he soon explained that he was a surgeon, and begged permission to ex- amine into the extent of the lady's injuries. An examination soon showed that they were of merely a trifling nature — that the nerves were more upset than the body hurt. Adair then took the opportunity to explain that he was on his way to London to endeavour to make a name in the profession he had chosen, and as the fair lady was still apprehensive of unknown dangers, and still felt the effect of the shock, she offered the vivacious young Irishman a seat in her carriage as a protector, for she herself was travelling to the metropolis when the acci- dent occurred. He was only too delighted to accept the proffered kindness, and very soon restored his travelling companion to health and good spirits. Arrived in London she presented him with a hundred guineas, and invited him to come to her house as often as he pleased. Robin Adair was a wise and energetic young man, and took full advantage of the lucky turn 40 FAMOUS SONGS in his fortunes to study assiduously, and soon, with the assistance of his patroness, acquired a good connection in the best end of the town. He was frequently at the dances given by this lady and others, he being a graceful dancer, a good conversationalist, and a man of consider- able natural ability. One night, at a party, he found that his partner was Lady Caroline Keppel, the second daughter of the Earl of Albemarle. It was a case of love at first sight — mutual love; and Lady Caroline's attach- ment was as sincere as it was sudden; they were the observed of all the guests ; and after a few meetings the relations were in despair. The young couple, however, continued to meet again and again, and their affection ripened into an intense passion. Her kinsfolk were stupe- fied with amazement. Were they to allow an unknown Irishman to carry off the flower of their flock, the beautiful Caroline ? They set their wits to work to try and persuade her to give him up. But all in vain. Handsome heirs of the oldest and stiffest families were prevailed upon to woo her, but she would not listen to them. She was sent abroad to see if travel would alter her determination and cure her " folly," but without avail, and gradually she fell ill. When she was at Bath for the benefit of 41 STORIES OF her health, she wrote the verses now so popular, and adapted them to the melody of " Eileen Aroon," which Robin Adair had doubtless often sung to her. At last the separation from Adair and the importunities of her relatives caused her to become so dangerously ill, that, upon the doctors despairing of her life, and seeing the disease was more of the heart and mind than of the flesh, the union of the faithful pair was consented to. The event was duly notified in the " Grand Magazine of Universal Intelligence" thus : " February 22nd, 1758, Robert Adair, Esq., to the Right Honourable the Lady Caroline Kep- pel." This was the culminating point in the pretty love story. A short time after his mar- riage Adair was appointed Inspector-General of Military Hospitals through the influence of his wife's relations ; nor did his good luck end here, for the King, being taken with Adair's agreeable manner and undoubted skill made him Surgeon-General, King's Sergeant-Surgeon, and Surgeon of Chelsea Hospital. Good for- tune did not spoil him, and he continued to work hard at his profession, and the King was so greatly gratified at the successful way in which he treated the Duke of Gloucester, that he offered to make him a baronet ; Adair, how- 42 FAMOUS SONGS ever, declined. Adored and admired by all who knew him, he lived to the ripe old age of eighty, and his death was deeply lamented. Lady Caroline, however, who did not enjoy good health, died after giving birth to their third child. Knowing how devotedly attached her husband was to her, she felt he would not marry again, and she was right. Except on State occasions, when he was obliged to don Court costume, he wore mourning in remem- brance of his love and his wife, until he died in 1790, when he was buried with her in the family vault. Their only son, the Right Honourable Sir Robert Adair, died in 1855 at the advanced age of ninety-two, after a brilliant career, having proved himself a very capable diplomatist. The only part of this story which appears in any way doubtful, as far as reliable data go, con- cerns the episode on the road to London. For the rest the writing of the song, and the mar- riage with Lady Keppel are perfectly accurate, and Robin Adair was well known in London society as " the lucky Irishman" and was often so addressed by George III. 