The San Francisco call., 1904-06-26
OLD ENGLISH
FOLK SONGS
The Briton and His
Mixture of the Country
and Cosmopolitan Tastes
ORIGIN OF POPULAR AIRS
Scotch, Irish and Other
Foreign Melodies and the
Tunes of Long Ago

To a certain extent the English are
cosmopolitan in their musical tastes.
That is to say. they are always ready
to adopt the songs and tunes OF other
nations, provided only the melody be
pleasing in their ears. Hence possibly
the varied and heterogeneous types of
many of our best-known ballads. Most
of these, it is true took their rise in
other parts of the kingdom; still, the
difference between Celtic, Cymric and
Saxon temperaments is enough to ac-
count for much that is otherwise mex
plicable in some of the so-called ma
tional songs. Yet even among these
we find exceptions. THE British Gren-
adiers," for instance, like its name, Is
English to the backbone, and is. fur
thermore, one of the oldest popular
songs we have. The words. it Is evil
dent, were written somewhere between
1878, when the Grenadier Company was
first formed. and the time Of Queen
Anne. in whose reign the regiment
ceased to carry hand grenades. The
tune. from all accounts. is considerably
older. and may even belong to Good
Queen Bess days, though this, of
course, is merely surmise.
ROBIN ADAIR.
Another melody supposed to date
from that period is Robin Adair."
Though. for some mysterious reason
generally included in collections of
Scotch airs, the tune originally came
from Ireland-where 1t was called
Eileen Aroon"-the Scotch snap" on
the words Robin Adair' being a nine
teenth century addition. The tradition
has it that a chieftain Of the clan
O'Daly, like Romeo, fell in love with
the daughter of his races hereditary
foe AS is customary in romances, the
lady was compelled to marry an unwel-
come wooer, but this only made her
levers opportunity. Disguised as a
harper he appeared at the wedding
feast, where he sang a doleful lay Of
love and woe. Then, suspicion being
lulled, he suddenly swung the bride on
his horse and, leaping the castle moat,
carried her off before the eyes Of his
rival. In remembrance Of this the
pseudo -minstreIs melody was treas
ured bv his descendants. AT least the
air Eileen Aroon" is known to have
been the work of one Gerald O'Daly.
a harper of later times, who probably
utilized the ancestral tune.
STORY OF THE SONG.
To the modern verses is attached a
romance emanating from the days of
hoops and patches. The hero of this,
Robin Adair. a good-lool-ing young
Irish surgeon, once CHANGED to be of
service to an elderly titled dame who
ha dmet with an accident near Holy
head. More frightened than hurt, the
lady, when matters were adjusted, pre-
sented her deliverer with Zee Of
hundred guineas and insisted on his
escorting her back to London. Arrived
there, he was forthwith made free of
his patroness' house, and, sad to say,
so far forgot his position as to set lis
affections on one of the visitors, who
was by no means backward in respond
ing. Without further ado the fascinat-
ing medico was banished. but The mis-
chief was done. his high born inamo-
rata refusing to even look at her other
suitors. AS last expedient she was
taken to Bath to try what course of
gayety, combined with unpleasant
mineral waters. could effect. Here,
however, instead of forgetting her low
er of low degree, the enamored maiden
wrote or induced some one to write
the lines eulogizing her adored Robin
Adair. To make a long story short,
the two were ultimately married. but
their happiness was of brief duration,
for the young wife speedily fell q vic
tim to consumption, leaving her hus-
band bound by a VOW to wear perpet-'
ual mourning in memory Of their love.
HE'S A JOLLY. GOOD FELLOW.
Turning to more conviv1al lays, the
first which occur to the mind are the
companion songs, I'VE Won't Go Home
Till Morning" and For He's a Jolly
Good Fellow" which own a tune in
common. With reference to the words
of the latter, they certainly run into
something that may by courtesy be
termed a couplet, but OF I'VE Won't
Go Home Till Morning" nothing, ap-
parently, has survived beyond the two
lines intimating the singers disinclin-
alton to seek repose. Whether a match
less epic has been lost to the world or
whether fha nOafig inSDira tfOn gave O1It