Nebraska advertiser., 1869-01-21
The story ora PopuIar song.

The Story offs Popular Song.
A correspondent gives the following
account of the singing of Father,
Come Home,O in one of the music
halls in LondOn:-
Having reached the hall, we paid
an admission fee Of sixpence. There
was very neat stage, with gaudy
drop scene, side wings, and tOlerable
good orchestra. In the stalls sat the
chairman, to keep order over as mot
ley an audience as ever was seen out
of the gallery Of the Victoria Theatre.
"Costers'' seemed to predominant. All
appeared to be plentifully supplied
with porter, and all were enjoying
their pipes. to such an extent as to
make the place almost suff0cating, for
there must have been an audience of
nearly five hundred. A nigger "walk
aroundn was Just being finished, and
the shouts of "encore, - WIiistling and
stamping of feet made the hall perfect
ly beWildering. A name was. an
nOunced from the chairman, which
we could not catch, and amidst clap
ping of hands and stamping of feet
there was buzz of isThis is the sOng!"
The waiter called loudly, "Any more
orders?n and these being taken and
duly executed, all seemed to settle
down quietly to listen to the song.
There was the symphony, and anoth-
er buzz of ''This is il 90 and we began
TO feel anxious. Presently a female
came id front Of the curtain, amidst
great applause, and commenced
Father, dear father," &c. Every
word was distinct, and she sang the
ballad with great feeling. In.order,
however, to fully describe the scene
which followed each verse, it is neces-
sary to give ''little Mary's" song:-
''Father, dear father, come home with me
The clock III thesteeple strikes oneI (gong)
You promised, dear father, that You would
As soon as your days work was done.
Our fire has gone out-Our house is all dark,
And mothers been watching since tea,
With poor little Benny so sick in her arms,
And no one 20 help her but me.
Come horne, coE5e home, come home,
Please fatheT, dear father come home"
At the conclusion Of the last line the
drop scene drew up, disclosing the
father sitting at the door of a public
house, in q drunken, bemuddled state,
with q pipe and pot before him. Lit
tie Mary was trying to drag him from
his seat, at the same time pointing to
q curtain behind, as she took up the
refrain from the lady, and touchingly
sang, "COme home,n &c. This other
curtain was now drawn aside,
disclosing a wretched room in which
was the mother with the poor, sickly-
looking boy in her lap, and in the act
Of faoHsv,nr him rrvff1, n Sfy1rr7-
taneously with the drawing of the cur
tain, the lime light was brought to
bear upon the tableauX, giving them
a truly startling effect. After a mo-
ment or two the act drop came down,
and the lady proceeded:
"Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock In the steeple strikes Two! (gong,
The night has grown colder, and Benny is
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed he Is worse, mother says he VIII d1es
Perhaps before morning shall dawn,
And this was the message she sent me to
bring
Come quick, or he will be gone.
Come home, come home, come home,
Please father, dear father, come home"
The act drop rises again, and now
the child has hold of the pewter pot,
trying to take it away from the drum
ken parent, and, as she continues the
last two lines, "COme hOme," &C.,
the other curtain is drawn aside, and
we next see the child stretched out on
its mothers lap, and as it just raises
its little head and falls back with a
gasp, with the lime light rejecting
strongly upon it, there was a reality
about the whole terrible to view. SObs
were heard coming from all parts OF
the hall, coming from the female
portion of the audience, while tears
trickled down many a male cheek.
We have seen ''Susan Hopley," +" 1.-THE
Stranger "Jane Shore EAST
Lynne" and other effective pieces
playedbut never before did we witness
such a scene of general crying. The
principal feature called to mind the
picture of the ''Sister of Mercy with
the dying child in her lap, and the
death was fearfully natural. Even the
the lady who sang the song was affec-
ted, and could scarcely proceed with
the third verse:
Father, dear father, come home with me
TheeIock in thesteeple strikes Three (gong,
gong, gong.
The house is so lonely, the hours are so long,
For poor weeping mother and me-
Yes, we are alOne-pOOr Benny is dead,
And gone with the angels of light,
And these are the very last words that he
said
Twant to kiss papa good-nightr
Come home, come home, come home,
Please father, dear father, come home"
Again the drop rose, disclosing little
Mary on her knees appealing to her
father, who, with the pot elevated, IS
in the act of striking her with it, as
she sings "Come home" and then the
back curtain draws aside, showing the
mother praying over child's coffin.
But now the sobs burst still more free
ly, and two females were carried out
fainting. The scene was truly har-
rowing, and we gladly turned our eyes
away.
An additional verse was sung about
''PoOr Benny" being with the angels
above. The drop rose; the father,
sober now, is weeping over the collin
with the mother, and little Mary on
her knees singing, Home, home,
father, dear fathers come home" AT
this moment the curtain is drawn
aside, and little Benny is suspended
over the coffin with wings, smiling
down upon them and pointing. up
wards. The father falls forward on
his face, the act drop descends, and for
few minutes all Is hushed save the
sobs of the females.
There, = said q WOrkingman By our
side, IS he heaved a sigh Of relief, Mr..
SpuFgeOn never preached a better ser
mon than that an expression to
which we assented, and then left the
hall.