, 1877-10-14

F."
1wish was q foua-cat
And she Tiny mouse.
The reason Of this remarkable wish is no
made kuuwn. But this ''jolly-loggissn i
carried ercn to the female character, and We ar
favored with an accot1nt Of Raeketty lou!!
Fan" who ~ drove her granny mad." VI ths
"Merricst Girl Uut,' who
Let my partner squeeze my hand,
because know what I'm about.
It pleased him. and don't hurt me;
I'm the nnerricst girl that's out.
OF the same kind is the *@ Dear Girl" whose
dressmaker's bills are unpaid " and whost
s'curls are nut fit to be scen." The young cir
who
Didn't object al all to hearty fun:
But If young men are forward, why,
say-do 1t II you dare.
but THE sASCT1TY OF THE LAW
Is invaded py tile composers Of these wretctcd
songs, and even the police arc not exempted
Who has not heard Of Sergeant Cox, who sings
look upon street children,
And my glance is stern and high;
And On lhc sunday yrpgyerles
keep n,y wclther-tye.
But sometimes all my vigilance
My feelings overcome.
And mercy seasons JUSTICE with
\ little drop OF rum.
Verify one may exclaim, How mcrciful Is the
pecler unto himself Mrs. Jones, in several yards
Of Grape mourus the loss of her husband,
Who really was model man,
Sobc., so to speak;
I never knew him to be drunk
Npre Than ecyen times Il week.
One OF the choicest gems is the ''Lazy Club, u
It has seven or eight verses, and is sung to the
air of screen Grow the Rusl,es, Oh.'' The un.
happy husband starts oil:
N.Y. wife is such law Turk
She will not do bit Of work.
OF his daughter lie says:
Ny eldest daughter Is Just IS bad;
and his
Dutifu} son shows off his airs,
And cannot sit without three chairs.
Finally concluding his 1nournful lamentations
With:
keep very lazy dog,
Who lays about Just like log.
Who eau imagine the linked sweetness Of the
young mau
Who wandered with little hand
4 spoontng on the sands,
to the tunc Of 8*Walising in the Zoo"
Then we hear OF 1.-THE great Jessie Spring
field" who sings:
Thoug., fresh from meadows, have no haysecd
in my hair.
The shocking story Of "Poor. Ben with the
carroty hair,:' who was cruelty deceived bv
''Falsc Katrina, fat and fair.' The young
lady who had a queer saying Of " Pull down
your vest, love- rtc.
But not satisfied with outraeing decency,
these sougstcrs
STEAL AIRS EXPRESSIVE OF LOFTIEK EMOTIONS.
The coarsencss and brutality Of these songs
lie chiefly in the words, and it is but charitable
to hope that 1t is thu tunes not the songs them
selves TINT attract the Young. What Wuuld the
late Charles Dickens have thought could he
have heard SOME brokcn-down hack Of
singer brawl out the following TO the cir OF tue
''Ivy Grccn':
a downy old cove il our old tom-cat,
Just turned Of thirty years old
lie cats all the lean and leaves all the int,
And won't touch mis- meals if they're cold.
His food must be crumocd and not decayed,
To pleasure his dainty whim.
Anu turkey bone that never was touched
Makes i jolly blowout for him.
Here is the beginning OF another verse:
Old joints have He'd. and the bones decayed,
And the dishes have broken been, etc.
The third stanZa commences:
Fast he ilics, tho he has no wings,
And ely old sol1ier Ia be.
And the chorus:
Creeping over the tiles so pat,
And crying '3lew, " docs our old tom-cat.
But have not space to further multiply il
Illustrations. Enough have already been given
to show the dcgencrating character Of these
ballads. How different were the English bal
lads Of o]dcn times and even Of the earlier part
of the present century. It makes one Iong, for
the popular songs of those days, whlrh hardly
ought to he spoken Of III comparison With this
goou-for-nothing-stutf. Il writer in one OF The
prominent Londun journals recently spoke OF
the almost idyllc beauty Of "Sally in Our
Alley" OF the arch aud cIlildlikc cunning of
"Gossip Joan,'-who ''could not cure her
cough without gill II brandy, y,"--tilc refined
unserupulousnrss o6/thea "Vicar of Dray,, tic
heroic lin the Johnsoklan sense) a,cohol.za-
tion Of The Squires OF Old" Of whom
Each 1noE smack
At The cold black jack,
Till The fire buried in his BRAIN.
have before me ''Pcrry's Rciuues'' and
book ot "Balla'lF, Scottish and English" The
good, wholesome tonc Ut many Of the ballads
and popular songs OF former DAYS is IN strou.y
contrast to the bad morals aud bad GRAMMAR
which alone can be CLEANED from tht. popular
sougs Of to-day. The bands and minstreIs Of
former times we're greatly respected by our an
cestors. and SO, Ferry says. contributed to
soften tho roughncss of anartial and unettcrcd
people By their songs and by their music The
ancient specimens Of ballads before me show the
gradation OF our language, exhibit the proercss
OF popular opiniuns, aud display the peculiar
MANNERS and customs Of former ages. The
popular songs OF the present time merely ex-
hibit, If called upon to exhibit ANYTHING,
the dcgencracy Of our language, our morals,
aud our popular opinion. The sooner
these ,eilusions,. saturated as they are with
everything that is bad. are suppIanted for some
thing more wholesome, more elevating, and
more really entertaining, the better for the
glowing generation. r. r. P
MUSIC.
TIE MUSICAL SEASON
IS now fairly open. The minor concerts begin
n in