In 1851 I was invited to pay the first of my many visits to Nuneham Park, the Oxfordshire seat of Frances, Countess of Waldegrave and Mr. Vernon Harcourt, M.P. for Oxfordshire, to play the piano during some theatrical performances and to accompany some of the amateurs of the houseparty in their songs. There I made the acquaintance of Mr. John Braham, father of the Countess, and doyen of English tenors. He was then in his eightieth year, but he sang "Total Eclipse" from Handel's oratorio Samson in a way I shall never forget, and with an amount of pathos that touched my heart.