The Topeka state journal., 1905-09-12
THE PAYNE HOUSE.
It's at East Hampton. But the Song
Writer Was Not Born There.

There is vague tradition told to
summer visitors at East Hampton that
John Howard Payne wrote Home,
Sweet Home" in the old Payne house
near the Duck pond. Payne did pass
his childhood in this old house. but
did not write his famous poem there.
Nor was he even born there.
He was born in New York on the
site of 33 Pearl street on June 9, 1891,
and not 1892. as the biographies usual
ly have it. His father had, about
twelve years before that time, moved
TO East Hampton to assume the direc-
ernor Clinton Two of his sisters and
one brother of this family of nine chill
dren were born in the little house at
East Hampton.
+ 1t is owned to this day by his de-
scendants. 1t was built before William
Payne, the father of the poet, moved
there.
Payne was in Paris when he wrote
Home, Sweet Home probably IN the
sky parlor in the Palais RoyaI'' to
which Washington Irving referred in
letter to a friend. One of the stories
concerning the song had the author pen
nlless in London garret while he wrote
1t, and another romantic account des-
cr1bed him writing the poem on a frag-
ment of paper he picked out of the
gutter.
Payne had quarreled with the man
ayers of Covent Garden and gone to
al ASs NIiClS ue WAS IIduSldIlIlS pays.
Charles Kemble came into control of
the theater, and Immediately wrote to
Paris asking Payne, who had then
nigh reputation as playwright, to
come to London or let him have what
ever new material he had collected.
Payne sent over to Kernble sackfu1
of plays, asking $1,25O for the lot. KEN
blye selected one called "Angioletta,'
paid $3.50 for that and sent the rest
back. 1t was then decided that the
r=i1 nd II ic17n
was called in to supply the score.
In one of his letters to Bish op. writ
ten just before he started for London,
Payne wrote that Home. Sweet
one of the songs. He had heard the
air in Italy according to his own ac-
counts of the work. So Bishop on the
title page of the first copies of the
song described it as modelled on and
partly taken from Sicilian air.
In a later account Payne said he
heard a peasant girl singing it in Italy
and asked her the name. She could
not tell him, but repeated it while he
took down the notes. He said that the
pathetic character of the music sug-
gested to him the words of Home,
Sweet Home which he wrote when
the idea of putting the melody into his
version of ttAngioletta" occurred to
him. He then wrote the poem and
Bishop made the text fit the music.
This was the socalled first version of
the poem.
"Clari. or the Maid of Milan" was
produced and London crowded to
Covent Garden to hear it. Ellen Tree
sang the melody with one or two
other singers. From the first night
the success of the opera was assured.
Kemble and the publisher divided be-
tween them more than $4,000 during
the first year of the songs sale.
The old house at East Hampton is
still a pleasant place of residence In
these summer days it is surrounded
by trees and flowers. There are sew
eral other Payne houses in the village,
for some of the descendants of Viii
liam settled there. In none of them
was the author of Home, Sweet
Home" born, nor did he write his
poem in any of them.-New York
Sun.