St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-05
SONGS OF LONG AGO.
Exile and Death the Burden
OF Most Of the Old
Ballads.
Now Nothing Takes the Pub
lie Heart Unless 1t is
Funny.
''Do They Miss Me at H0me?"
and Other Early Popular
Songs.
Running Comment on q Half
Century of Airs Of the
People.

Century of Airs Of the
People.
There has been a big change in the
character of the popular song of late
years, says the Chicago Tribune. Nova
days song must be set to lively music
and have ridiculous or at least nom
sensical words to catch the notice OF the
masses. Years ago this was not true.
The Irish and German dialect song was
unknown, and, had it been known.
would have met with cold reception.
What the people wanted was something
sad and words that seem
to have been written to be sung TO the
air of funeral march. These were the
popular things and the public would
have nothing else. The young men
and the young women Of the day would
gather about the old square piano and
with tears i'm their eyes lamept the fate
of some departed person. The songs
were all sentimental and the number Of
''darlingS" and s'dears" used in their
composition would have caused mod
ern song writer to shudder. One OF the
old songs was about Darling Katy's
Grave" 1t was considered one of the
best songs ever written, and part of it
was as follows:
Oh, I'm kDeeling by thy grave, Katy darling,
This world is all blank to me.
On, couldst thou hear my wailing, Katy dar-
ling.
Oh. think. love, I'm signing for thee.
Oh methinks the stars are weeping,
BY their soft and lambent light,
And thou my heart would be melting, Katy
darling,
Couldst thou see thy love this sad night.
Oh listen, sweet Katy
For the wild flowers are sleeping, Katy dar-
ling,
And the lone birds are singing on each
tree.
Will thou nevermore hear me, KATY darling?
Oh know, love, I'm kneeling by thee.
This was a touching poem, and the
music was as sad and heartrending as
the words. With its 'O's" and its
''darlings" it caught the public fancy
and had an enormous popularity, as
was testified by the score of parOdies OF
it which were brought into existence.
Katy was only one instance OF the fact
that to make song popular some fifty
years ago the heroine must be DEAD.
steal obituary was sold all over the
country.
Then Fair Ella Leen died. Nobody
ever thought of singing a song about
Ella when she was alive, but as soon as
she died hundreds of people sat down to
their pianos and proceeded to give di-
rections about the funeral. 1t must
have taken some time to find the grave
they wanted, for, as can lie seen from
the following selection, the m0urnerS
were very particular. The words of the
song commenced:
Lay her where the woodbine clingeth
TO the dark magnolia tree,
Where the breeze low music brlngeth
From the bosom of the sea.
With sorroWful emotion
Lay her where sweet yiolets be,
Where the leaves keep gentle motion
To the breathing of the sea.
There lay her; there leave her,
Our young Ella Lee ,~-
Ever blooming as the summer,
Ever humming like the bee.
We believe her some bright being
From the land where angels be;
We have lost her-ever lost her
Our poor Ella, Ella Lee.
Whether Ella ever was buried in the
spot where her admirers thought she
should be is a mystery. Beyond the
song nothing was ever heard OF Ella,
and up to the present time no one has
seen her grave or read the notice of her
funeral in the papers.
.Rosalie, the Prairie Flower" also
received good deal of post-mortem
notoriety. According TO the song:
When the summer faded and the chilly blast
Ger that happy cottage swept at last
When the autumn song birds woke with the
morn
Little Prairie Flower was gone.
For the angels whispered softly in her ear:
Child the Father calls thee: stay not here "
And they gently bore her. robed in spotless
white,
To their bIissful homes of light.
Then there was chorus to it that
went some thing in this way:
Though we shall never look on her any more,
Gone with the love and joy she bore:
Far away she's blooming in fadeless bower,
Sweet R0salie the prairie flower.
RosaIie's friends had good sense. They
avoided the trouble that Ella Lees
friends went through. and also the ex-
pense of funeral by letting the angels
take her to s'fadeleSs bower" Then
Nelly died. Nelly's last name is I'M
known, but she is dead. The song
says so:
In the hazel dell my Nelly's sleeping,
Where the flowers wave;
And the silent stars are nightly weeping
Ger poor Nelly's grave.
Hopes that once my bosom fondly cherished,
Smile on me no more;
Every dream of joy, alas. has persisted,
Nelly dear, with thee.
This song also had chorus and it
went as follows:
All alone my watch I'm keeping,
In the hazel dell.
For my darling Nelly's near me sleeping,
Nelly, dear, farewell.
The stars must have had busy time
in those days. They wept for katy
darling" and they wept for 'sNelly
dear" They may have shed few tears
for Rosalie and the rest of The corpSeS,
too. Singing of Nelly, there was another
Nelly Nelly Gray-whO was an old
time favOrite. Her sad fate was lament
ed frequently in days gone by. and is
still sung occasionally Ill the present
time. This song was much better than
most of the old ones. and that is prob
ably the reason why it has survived
until now. About the time that Nelly
Gray was taken to Georgia Lila Dale
died, and old-time lovers cried over her
in this style:
We smoothed down the locks
Of her soft golden hair,
And placed her hands on her breast
And laid her in the valley so fair,
Mid the blossoms of summer TO rest.
There o rest Lila, rest,
No cares can assatl,
For green grows the turf
Ger the tear-moistened grave
Of the fairest flower of the vale.
Ellen Bane was the next victim of the
song writers. The words do not make
it clear as to whether or not Ellen was
dead, but, il she was not, it was very
improper for the young man ''to be lin
gerlng by her SIDE" The SOM goes:
Soft-be thy slumbers; rude cares depart;
Visions in numbers cheer thy young heart.
Sleeping or waking. in pleasure or pain,
Warm hearts shall beat for thee,
Sweet Ellen Bane
Gentle slumbers round thee glide;
Dreams of beauty round thee bide;
While / finger By thy side,
Sweet Ellen Bane.
Rut it was not Oniv Young and bean