ffs", round-abouts, swings, cocoa-nut shies, shooting ranges, &c.
People flocked from far and near to the Fair. Our company made a great
"hit." It was the custom for a few of us, myself included, to promenade
in front of the assembled crowd, in "full dress," and then, after we had
executed a picturesque Indian dance, the manager would strongly recommend
the people to "Come forward, ladies and gentlemen, the show's just
a-going to begin." The performance consisted of a short play, a comic
song by "Billy," and a portion of the pantomime, "Jack and the
Beanstalk," the whole lasting under half-an-hour. We gave about a score
performances a day: it was very hard work, and, what was more, hot
weather. I don't want to figure in these pages as a champion boozer--for
I know that the _Herald_ is a warm advocate of temperance
principles;--but it is nevertheless a fact that one hot day I drank no
less than three shillings' worth of "shandy-gaff," at a penny per pint.
It was dry work I can tell you, and made a dry stomach. Just before the
close of the fair, strangely enough, there was a split in our ranks owing
to the "matron" having engaged new blood, in the shape of three
fellows--Harry McMillan, Tom Harding, and Paddy Crotty--who were to play
the leading parts. It has always been said that much jealousy exists
among the theatrical profession, and jealousy existed and caused an
"eruption" among us. We had a "regular rumpus," and Spencer, Buckley, and
myself seceded and "set up" on our own account. In the evening of the
very day of the upheaval, we made a pitch on the greensward opposite to
the theatre we had seceded from. Spencer, I ought to mention here, was
"the great man of strength;" Buckley, the "marvellous jumper;" while I
myself filled a double role--being both the "clown" and "cashier" of the
establishment. The latter is generally a safe post to hold. Spencer would
willingly allow a stone to be broken on his chest with a sledge hammer,
bend bars of iron across his arm, and the like; and Buckley would
volunteer to jump over as many as five boat horses. But now it comes to
myself. I have to confess I was always rather backward at coming forward.
Suffice it to say that I didn't make a bad clown; which, perhaps, is not
so much to be wondered at seeing that I was said to have been "born so."
Our entertainment took immensely. We removed to Skelmanthorpe, near Denby
Dale, where we put the inhabitants into a state of great excitement.