Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1890-01-01
THE STORY OF A SONG.
SIMPLE ORIGIN OF soME OF THE
POPULAR 0lTTlES.


with Finger ,,..iis a window sill.
The man Who perpetrated that must
cal airocity, =" here Did You Get That
HAITI" has been discovered, His name is
Joe Sullivan lie is an actor, This is
the only thing he ever wrote.
Frank Harding. the New York music
publisher. tells the story OF how and where
the aurhor obtained his inspiration
Tom O'Driscoii. the har,m scarum
grandson of old Murtagh O'Driscoll, of
Cobbynaul, in the county OF Roscom-
mon, Ireland was famous for his per-
sonal peculiarities. One OF these was an
aversion TO wearing "caubccn. 1t
was Toms delight to wander through
the country bareheaded and bareiooted,
The fact that he wore no shoes excited
no comment, hut his refusal to wear .
hat was distress to his family. The
fact is that Tom did not really need a
hat, for he had been provided by nature
with 4 shock OF luXuriant red hair. He
was known for miles around rs the red
headed man, and his a3ornment brought
down upon Tom TIE anger OF his grand
father. MurJagh.
just before his death old Gurtash con-
ceived an idea which he was almost GER
tain would bring his erriug grandson 10
his "Siyin shmall sinses, and few days
afterward lie died
Tom refused 10 wear hat, even 1T the
funeral On the return Of the family
from the chmcAyard the viii was open
ed and read 10y Father O'loo!ahan, and,
to the surprise of all, it was found that
Tom inherited everything. including the
biz stocking Of "goold, that could be
found "bechune the tick and the boui-
sier in the ouid four posther, on coudi-
ton that for the remainder of his nat
ural life he should wear his grandfatherS
hat on all occasions in the open air.
This was regarded as 4 very hard con-
ditior by Tom, but, possessing his share
of good common sense, he accepted the
inevitable and presented himself on the
following Sunday at church wearing old
MelrlaShs hat His appearance was
u Idicrous in the extreme. Having neg
lected to get his hair cut, the hat was
perched on the top Of his remarkable
crop of bushv and fiery hair. and the
the roars OF laughter. with which he was
saluted made Tom almost wish he had
not accented the onerous condition of his
grandfather Will From al sides came
jibes and cries Of derjsion, the principal
saIutation being, Mother o Moses!
Where did Won get that hat:
During recent trip il Ireland Mr.
Sullivan heard thestory rs related above
and, after good deal Of hard thinking
lie produced the song. the tide of which
has since become a household word
throughout the country. An excellent
Vet simple piano arrangement was made
for it by William Lorraine, mere led Of
IS, which materially aided its impetus to
popularity BY the way, Lorraine IS
recognized among musicians generally
as oueof the most efficient arrangers Of
comic and sentimental nEsic in this
country This song is an illustration Of
what a single phrase VIII do in popular
izin= q ditty. THERE'S, Of course. nothing
OF decided literary merit TO commend
it. Il does not even possess the distinc-
ton Of good rhyme. But it has an oriSl-
nal jiagleofmcice.. -;.ai an easy arrange
ment that 20 i@g N making II go
with the public. a ngmter Of songs
have suddenly sprung into celebrity
winch had grown dusty ~ the obscWii{