MUSIC HALL FAVORITES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1904, 15 June 1892, Page 5

MUSIC HALL FAVORITES.

" Ta-ra-ra-boom-do-ay ! " repeated eight times and with great emphasis on the 'boom." Such is the intellectual refrain that has delighted London, the capital of the British Empire, the birthplace of Caaucer, Spenser, Milton, Herrick, Keats, and Browning, the town which boasts that no good literary work can be done outside its huge limits, One young lady has already made a fortune by singing the song. Let the name of Miss Lottie Collins pass down to posterity as the first who thus with profit sang the enchanting strain. The oontagion quickly spread. AH over London the song wus being sung, and — still within the limits of the bills of mortality — the tune pervaded the air. Next tho lay made its appearance in the law courts. A rival singer was "cutting in," so that by way of protection to a native industry an injunction had to be sought. But the words, except of the refrain, are apparently unimportant, and, like the American or Australian politician's views, they "can be' changed." So the Court ruled that there was no property in an air, especially an air which by tbis time was circumambient.

For the latest development, however, the world was hardly prepared. At ttie Empire Theatre in London a French version offers a new sensation. Now, sensation "fetches" ('tis its own word) the ' Pall Mall Gazette ' almost as much as morality does. Fortunately, that paper is well known as a guardian of public morals, or we might hesitate to draw attention to its frontispiece, i evidently by an admirer, or to quote the description of the French version by one for whom admirer is a mild term. "It cannot be imagined what a charm there is- in the lines of the song, translated and sung in the soft, Bmooth-rlowing Parisian." So there are limits to the imagination, and yet some of us have heard French songa, and there is cense as well as music in Beranger. "And then Mdlle. Violetteis as naive and daintily bewitching a jeune femme as ever exhibited a pair of dimpled shoulders before the footlights." The shoulders, however, are hardly the most conspicuous element in the picture. We are further told that the young lady is " very conscientious "" — a good word — " and throws her whole soul into it — not to mention some considerable quantity of iace and finery as well. The house never fails to be ' fetched ' to the last man, while the young rich hang dangerously out of their boxes and appear simply paralysed." Among the audience were H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Randolph Churchill. It is believed that the former was meditating the conversion of the soul-stirring strains into a military march, whilst the latter was reflecting on the marked superiority of civilisation to African barbarism, Ie is impossible, especially fora Victorian, to underestimate the value of that strong central syllable, which is the making of the refrain. It is rich in sound far reaching ; for us it is, alas ! too rich in memories and ia results. At any rate, the success of the song has not as yet been great in Melbourne. Something is amiss. We feel inclined to ask, with the late Mr Browning, 'Wanting is — what?' Perhaps this something, this indefinable element i which we call charm, may yet be granted to j us; nor do we hear of the song "catching on " elsewhere than in London. At present, at all events, the Empire is not as the Empire Theatre. But shortly we may all — I in Cape Town, in Montreal, in Calcutta, and I ia Melbourne — be singing and humming it, I even as the street boys of London. We are generally a little late in our hums. i

At any rats one good result is probable. ' Hush ! hush ! hush ! here goes the Bogie man,' and there are indeed few who will be sorry to hear the last of him. He has had a long innings, and should be content ; but in the natural history of popular songs it is ordained that when a new song comes in its predecessor goes out. The reigning favorite brooks no rival near the throne, and there .is always the precedent of Ministries. It is curious that more attention has not been paid to the history, natural or unnatural, of the songs of the last quarter of a century. At the opening of the period Villikins and his Dinah were struggling with the daughter of a certain Ratcatcher, whose residence would have been in Westminster had it not been for the intervening Thames. Then the attractions of a young lady named Nancy were set forth, whose domicile was in that crowded thoroughfare the Strand. Should the date of this song ever be lost it can be recovered from the fashion plates, for the dress of the damsel in question is described with some minuteness. The ladies retired before a roysterer who proclaimed that his name was Champagne Charlie, though bis origin seemed to be rather spirituous or beery than due to the noblest of wines. But the poor fellow was by no means as boisterous as the singer who succeeded him with the ro'lieking words ' Slap-bang ! Here we are again.' Once more the ladies came to the front in the lay that told of • Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green.' Perhaps our order is not quite accurate, for we still desiderate that history, or at least a chronicle. Somewhere in the above list there should be a break, denoting the reign of King Christy with his numerous allurements in song. Who, whatever his real name may be, could fail to be in better spirits when adjured in the words 'Cheer up, Sam,' especially when the later promises are revealed ? In one of the many modern volumes of reminiscences there is an account of the vigor with which Mr Gladstone gave the company 'Camptown ladies. ' The chorus of that ditty , • Oh-da-doo-dar-dey,' seems to suggest the nearest approximation to the word of wisdom written at the opening of this article.

Meanwhile, Mr Fletcher, of Saltouu, has been standing at the door and demanding admission into this article. He cannot be refused, especially as he is generally misquoted tbua : " Let me make a people's songa, and I care not who makes the laws." The 1 Encyclopedia ' gives a contemporary description of Andrew Fletcher as a "low, thin man of a brown complexion, full of fire, with a stern, sour look " ; and quotes his often mangled remark : " I said I knew a very wise man" who "believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he 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 without the help of a lyric and sometimes of a dramatic poet." Here there is work for a laureate, and it must be fairly allowed that our present laureate has worthily produced ballads such as ' Lucknow ' and ' The Revenge,' calculated to stir the heart of a people. Rudyard Kipling's ' Flag of England ' is another admirable instance of what can be done. But we wish the music hall Bongs could really follow suit, could elevate instead of vulgarising. The famous Jingo song is perhaps the best of them all. No doubt its note was somewhat defiant, and in the tone that was commoner amongst the British after Waterloo. Yot it is better to have too bold a heart than one too weak, and the Jingo strains did for a while something of the work that * John Brown ' wrought for the Northerners in the great American war, — 'Argus.'

Mra Patsy Sears, who lives in Howard County, Indiana, is said to be 10S years old, Although she claims to be two years olde'ri Sue did not learn to read until she was over eighty years of age, and she has since read the Bible through seven times and (Joaophus's History of the Jews ' once,