FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83  
84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   >>  
last century, and demolished in 1856. CHAPTER VII SOME NOTED SINGERS _The Micawbers_ Dickens presents us with such an array of characters who reckon singing amongst their various accomplishments that it is difficult to know where to begin. Perhaps the marvellous talents of the Micawber family entitle them to first place. Mrs. Micawber was famous for her interpretation of 'The Dashing White Sergeant' and 'Little Taffline' when she lived at home with her papa and mamma, and it was her rendering of these songs that gained her a spouse, for, as Mr. Micawber told Copperfield, when he heard her sing the first one, on the first occasion of his seeing her beneath the parental roof, she had attracted his attention in an extraordinary degree, but that when it came to 'Little Tafflin,' he had resolved to win that woman or perish in the attempt. It will be remembered that Mr. Bucket (_B.H._) gained a wife by a similar display of vocal talent. After singing 'Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,' he informs his friend Mrs. Bagnet that this ballad was his most powerful ally in moving the heart of Mrs. Bucket when a maiden, and inducing her to approach the altar. Mr. Bucket's own words are 'to come up to the scratch.' Mrs. Micawber's 'Little Taffline' was a song in Storace's ballad opera _Three and the Deuce_, words by Prince Hoare. It will be interesting to see what the song which helped to mould Micawber's fate was like. LITTLE TAFFLINE. [Figure 5] Should e'er the fortune be my lot To be made a wealthy bride, I'll glad my parents' lowly cot, All their pleasure and their pride: And when I'm drest all in my best, I'll trip away like lady gay, I'll trip, I'll trip away. And the lads will say, Dear heart, what a flash! Look at little Taffline with a silken sash, And the lads will say, Dear heart, what a flash! And the lads will say, Dear heart, what a flash! Look at little Taffline, Look at little Taffline, Oh, look at little Taffline with the silken sash! There was also a character called Little Taffline in T. Dibdin's _St. David's Day_, the music for which was compiled and composed by Thomas Attwood, organist of St. Paul's Cathedral. Her other song, 'The Dashing White Sergeant,' was a martial and very popular setting of some words by General Burgoyne. Micawber could both sing a
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83  
84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   >>  



Top keywords:
Taffline
 

Micawber

 

Little

 

Bucket

 

gained

 
Sergeant
 
Dashing
 

singing

 
silken
 

ballad


Should

 

fortune

 
scratch
 

Storace

 
TAFFLINE
 

interesting

 
Prince
 
Figure
 

LITTLE

 

helped


Attwood

 

organist

 

Cathedral

 

Thomas

 

composed

 

compiled

 

General

 

Burgoyne

 

setting

 

martial


popular

 
Dibdin
 

pleasure

 

parents

 

character

 
called
 

approach

 
wealthy
 

talent

 
family

entitle
 

talents

 
marvellous
 
Perhaps
 

famous

 

interpretation

 
spouse
 

rendering

 
difficult
 

SINGERS