The Irish standard., 1888-07-21
I!Il|lS| GRAZ ES I'm ENGLAND.
by MICHAEL AIAcD ONAGH. n
KITTY i n 9.
|EI||,S||''

s1S.ame lot an old Catholic Celtic stock.
'i4 Her father was William Raftor OF Kill
Kenny the owner Of large estates in that
sco uni and q lawyer by profession.
Living in the time of The English Revo-
tuition, he served in the campaign i'll Ire
Hand under the banner of James II. On
overthrow Of that monarch he re-
|iSared 10 France with the ssWild Geese, .
and in the service OF Louis XIV. OBJ
& tained much distinction as soldier.
SSSt.Ehe family estates in Kilkenny were
4 oon1iscated. After, some years Raftor
sfreturned to London, and, marrying a
Miss Daniel, the daughter Of wealthy
Ssnerchans living al Fish Hill in the city,
settled down to the pursuit OF his pro
ass:feseion. Kitty was one Of the children
@ Of 1this marriage. When she was sixteen
..%;}5aars Of age she attracted the attention
Of Cooley Cihber, the Poet-Laureate, by
{: her singing Of some comic songs at an
evening party given ct the house Of her
parents. Cibber engaged Kitty at 8
salary Of twenty shillings weeF to sing
| al Drury-lane Theatre, Of Which he was
manager, and she made her first appear
ance Oh tie stage in this theatre in the
autumu Of 1928. The play produced
,sas "Mitllridates, King OF Pontus. y
Kitty filed the part OF Imenes, a page.
There was nothing in the character; but
several songs were introduced on her
account, and these she sang with great
success.
The riquant style Of her singing soon
made her o favorite Crowds Aocked
b to plays that we're known to be worthless
in order to enjoy Kitty's rendering Of
The popular comic songs Of the time.
Even the Poet-I.aureate's Cooley Obj
ber's) poetry and hunor in Glove in q
Riddle" would have fallen fiat on the
ears Of the audience, and the play have
been for ever damned we're it not tor
stzitty's skittishness and sprightliness
when she sang between the acts. She
was the means of keeping several ridicu-
lous pieces running for months. The
history Of the British stage does not show
d SUCCESS greater than that of Kitty
Raftor. She must have had charming
manner when she made her audience for-
get her decidedly unattract1ve stage
presence. Kitty, in a. word, was COM
laonplaca~looking---she was, indeed
ugly. AS Percy Fitzgerald writes, she
was like Shakespeare's toad, ugly and
veyomous; but she had a jewel Of
spri.gh kliness and spirit in her head which
Brought her in u short time to the top Of
the ladder us a oomelienne. Old Samuel
Johnson wrote Miss Give WAS the
best player I ever saw. She was bet
ter rornp than any 1 ever saw i'll nature"
and Goldsmith s'She has more true
llu,nor than any actress upon the Eng.
lisI. Or any other stage / have SEEM
Kitty was only 81 years Of age when
she married. A grave and learned
lawyer is the last person in che world
one would imagine the merry young
actress, selecting as partner through
life. Yet this is what Kitty did, She
married in 1872 Mr., George Olive. son
Of Baron Give, the celebrated lawyer:
hut finding in a couple Of years that
there Was little conpanionsh1p between
seriousness and musty tones and spright-
Illness and comic songs she proposed
they should part, and, the husband con-
ae,ating, part they did. Kitty's temper,
XIV all accounts, was not very sweet.
She had q bitter acrimonious tongue that
said things which her enemies, to whom
they were addressed, could not forget
however they might wish it. She made
her reputation as an actress as Nell in
ssThe Devil to Pay But Leigh Hunt
tells us there was something Of s'the
devil to pay in all her stage life. . There
was nothing Garrick dreaded more than
Kitty's sharp sayings. Garrick was a
vain, foolish, parsimonlous, and unmanly
creature as we'll as great actor, and by
his loings he supplied Kitty's CULVER
with plenty Of SORROWS which were used
with damaging effect on himself. When
she LETT Drury~la Theatre Garrick was
manager. I'm SO sorry to lose you.
Kitty said he, with feigned regret,
upon the night Of her retirement. 'You
lie. Davy: you lie she retorted, ':and
yor know you do. You would light up
for Joy only the candles would cost you
sixpence.' 2 Garriek hated Kitty. II he
had not it would not have been Kitty's
fault.
!. III. Kitty visited the land Of her fathers in
1741-42. During that season she ap-
peared IN Aungier street Theatre, Dub
lin. What brilliant galaxy Of genius
that season saw rpon the stage in the
Irish metropolis With Mrs. Give at
tile Aungier street Theatre. there we're