Vauxhall, but the description is certainly vivid enough:
It was a beautiful duet; first the small gentleman
asked a question and then the tall lady answered
it; then the small gentleman and the tall lady sang
together most melodiously; 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 responded in a similar
manner; then the small gentleman had a shake or two,
after which the tall lady had the same, and then they
both merged imperceptibly into the original air.
Our author is quite impartial in his distribution of his
voices. In _P.P._ we read of a boy of fourteen who was a tenor
(not the fat boy), while the quality of the female voices is
usually left to the imagination.
If Mrs. Plornish (_L.D._) is to be believed, her father,
Mr. John Edward Nandy, was a remarkable singer. He was
a poor little reedy piping old gentleman, like a
worn-out bird, who had been in what he called the
music-binding business.
But Mrs. P. was very proud of her father's talents, and in
response to her invitation, 'Sing us a song, father,'
Then would he give them Chloe, and if he were in
pretty good spirits, Phyllis also--Strephon he had
hardly been up to since he went into retirement--and
then would Mrs. Plornish declare she did believe there
never was such a singer as father, and wipe her eyes.
Old Nandy evidently favoured the eighteenth-century songs,
in which the characters here referred to were constantly
occurring. At a subsequent period of his history Nandy's vocal
efforts surprised even his daughter.
'You never heard father in such voice as he is at
present,' said Mrs. Plornish, her own voice quavering,
she was so proud and pleased. 'He gave 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 father, "I never heard you
come the warbles as I have heard you come the warbles
this night." Ain't it gratifying, Mr. Pancks, though;
really.'
The Mr. Pancks here referred to did not mind taking his part in
a bit of singing. He says, in reference to a 'Harmony evening'
at the Marshalsea:
'I am spending the evening with the rest of 'em,'
said Pancks. 'I've been singing. I've been taking
a part in "White S
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