The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-27
SONGS NEAREST THE HEART.

Patti has announced to the American
public that during her farewell tour of
this country the coming winter she will
sing 1.-THE, Old Kentucky Home"instead
of the "Suwanee River" always here
tofore used by her as an encore. says
the New York Press. "The Old Ken
lucky Home" will bring the same quiv-
ering to the heart, the same moisture
to the eyes, for it is the simplest of
melodies, with words that impinge
upon the heart and are given a niche
of their own in the halls of memory for
all time.
1t was gentle and retiring Stephen c.
Foster who wrote these simple negro
songs. The most impressive words
spoken by Joseph jefferson in rip
Van Wrinkle" are How soon we are
forgotten" and it may be remarked of
the authors of books and songs as we'll,
How soon they are forgotten" An old
dealer in songs, now retired, said yes
terday:
1T was the various negro minstrels
who induced the army of verse writer's
and composers of music to write their
simple songs. The pay all too frequent
ly was the price of a dinner Most
popular and lasting of these organiza-
tons was Christy's minstrels at Me-
chanics' Hall, which was on Broadway,
between Grand and Broome streets. All
the popular simple negro song writer's
peddled their songs to E. P. Christy,
who made fortune by their presenta-
ton. Foster was called the father of
balladists, but there have been several
fathers since 1864, when he died.
Sep Winner was a popular song wri-
ter in 1850, and we printed and sold
millions of copies of his songs to supply
the demands. He published his What
Is Home Without Mother?' and Lis
ten to the Mocking Bird and built a
house with the profits of just those two
songs. Probably his most popular
songs were Old Black joe Katy,
Darling, Mary Blame, In the Louisi-
ana Lowlands,' old Uncle Ned, Willie
We Have Missed YOU I Chose to Be
Baby Lily Dale, Mary of Argyle
supposed to be of Scotch origin: Uncle
Sans Farm The Virginia Rosebud
ooh, Susannah!' and Dearest May ev-
cry one of which is held sacred in the
memories of those who have heard
them.
w nile OnI1Sty Tuleu the lOoSl III
minstrelsy in New York, the Buckley
Serenaders, also negro minstrels. held
the palm in Philadelphia. The director
of the Serenaders was Nelson Nice,
who arranged the music fer many songs
of the day. 1t was Nice who composed
the music for DR.. English's Ben Bolt,
popular even now and sung in "Trilby.'
The most popular ballads at the be-
ginning of the war were Just Before
the Battle Mother The Prisoners
Hope, better known as Tramp, Tramp.
Tramp, the Boys Are Marching and
sung by the Massa chusetts soldiers
marching down Broadway on their way
to the front: The Battle Cry of Free
DOM, Marching Through Georgia,
Rally Around the Flag, 'Johnny's Gone
for a Soldier 'Massa, Massa, Halle
lujah,' Maryland. My Maryland The
Yankee Man Of War; We Are Com
ing, Father Abraham John Browns
Body and How Are You. Conscript?
"The first occasion of sending boys
on the streets to peddle songs was when
we published the song about Mrs.
Cunningham and Her Baby of which
100, 900 copies were sold. There were ten
successive numbers of this song, giving
full details of the bogus story.