The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-10-06
The Story of a Popular Song.

The Story of a Popular Song.
\ correspondent of the .Stdtioncer
gives the following account of the sing
ing of "Father, come home" in one of
the music halls in London.
Having reached the hail. we paid an
admission fee of sixpence. There was a
very neat stage, with gaudy drop scenes
and side wings, and a tOlerable good
orchestra. In the stalls sat the chair
man, to keep order over as motley an
audience rs ever was seen out of the gal
lery of the Victoria Theater. ''Costers"
seemed to predominate. All appeared
plentifully supplied with porter, and all
were enjoying their pipes to such an ex-
tent as to make the place almost suflo-
eating, for there must have been an au-
dience of nearly five hundred. A nigger
'walk-aroUnd'i was just being finished
and the shouts of "encore ~ whistling
and stamping of feet made the hall per-
fectly bewildering. \ name was an-
nOunced by the chairman, which we
could not catch, and amidst clapping of
hands and stamping of feet, there was Il
buzz of This is the song ~ The waiter
called loudly, ANY more orders ~ and
these being taken and duly executed, all
seemed to settle down quietly to listen
10 the song. There was the symphony,
and another buzz of ''This is it ~ and
we began to feel anxious. Presently a
lady came in front of the curtain,
amidst great applause, and commenced,
Father dear father" etc. Every word
was distinct, aud she sang the ballad
with great feeling. In order, however,
to fully describe the scene which fol-
lowed each verse, it is necessary to give
'little Mary'sn song:
Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock I'm the steeplc strikes one: lgongl
You said You was coming right home from the
shop,
As soon as your days work was done.
The fire has gone Out-our house is all dark.
And mothers been Watching since tea,
With poor little Benny sick in her arms,
And no one to help her but me.
Come home, come home, come home.
Please, father, 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
a drunken, bemuddeled state, with pipe
and pot before him. Little Mary was
trying to drag him from his seat, at the
same time pointing to curtain behind
her, as she took up the refrain from the
lady and tOuchingly sang, "COme
hOme,n etc. This other curtain was now
drawn aside, disclosing a wretched ROOM
the poor mother sitting on the ground
with sickly-looking boy in her lap,
and in the act of feeding him with .
spoon. simultaneously with the draw
ing of the curtain, the lime-light was
brought to bear upon the tableauX, Civ
ing them a truly startling effect. After
a moment or two the act drop came
down, and the lady proceeded:
Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock in the stceple strikes two; fgOngl
The night has grown colder, and Benny is
But be has been calling for you;
Indeed he i wOrse-mOther says he will die.
Perhaps before morning shall dawn.
And this was the message she sent me To
bring
Come quickly 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, trviu"
To take il from the drunken parent, and
she continues the last two lines, "Come
home," etc, the other curtain is drawn
aside, and we next see the child stretched
out Oh 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 IA reality
about the whole terrible to view. SObs
were heard from all parts of the hall,
coming from the feminine portion of the
audience, while tears trickled down
many a mans cheek. We have seen
''Susan HOpely," ''The Stranger"
"Jane Shore" "East Lynn and other
effective pieces played, but never before
did we witness such scene of general
crying. The principal feature called to
mind the picture of the "Sister of
Mercy" with a dying child in her lap,
and the death was fearfully natural.
l.s Ins Il.
affected, and could scarcely proceed with
the last verse:
Father, dear father, come home with me now.
The clock in the Stecple strikes three; rgongl
The house Is so lOnely-the hours are 50 long
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes, we are alOne-pOOr Benny is dead
And gone with the angels of light!
And these were the very last words that he
said:
Il want to kiss papa good night"
Come home, come home, come home.
Please, father, dear father, come home.
Again the drop arose, disclosing little
Mary on her knees appealing to her
father, who, with pot elevated, is i'm the
act of striking her with it, as she sings.
Come hOme," and then the back cur
tain draws aside, showing the mother
praying over 4 child's coffin. But now
the sobs burst out still more freely, and
two ladies We're carried out fafnting.
ne Sceile was truly narrowing, and we
gladly turned our eyes away.
An additional verse was sung, about
Poor Benny being with the angels
above. The father, sober now, is weep
ing over the coffin with the mother, and
! little Mary on her knees, singing 'sHome,
home, father, dear fathers come homeri
At this moment the curtain is drawn
aside, and little Benny is suspended
over the coffin, with wings, smiling
down upon them and pointing upwards.
| The father falls forward on his face, the
act drop deseends, and for few minutes
all is hushed save the sObs of the women.
"There ~ said wOrkingman by OuI
side, rs he heaved a sigh of relief, ''NIr
/ SpurgeOn never preached n better ser.
mon than that "-an expression tC
which we assented, and left the hall.