Hester Lynch Piozzi in Turk's Head Tavern, Gerrard Street, Soho, London - between 1770 and 1779
from Diary of Hester Lynch Piozzi, May 1806, page 1075:
Another Death! nothing else indeed I think—the pleasant Bishop of Limerick; gay, gallant, cheerful Creature that he was—when known by name of Barnard Dean of Derry: Friend & Companion to dear little Goldsmith Reynolds, Burke, Johnson; all the old Coterie of the Turks head: where after Supper he used to sing the Song of Polypheme in Acis & Galatea.
Hester Lynch Piozzi, Diary of Hester Lynch Piozzi, May 1806. In Katharine C. Balderston (ed.), Thraliana: The Diary of Mrs. Hester Lynch Thrale (Later Mrs. Piozzi) 1776–1809. 2nd ed. , volume 2 (Oxford, 1951), p. 1075. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1543244449963 accessed: 24 April, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
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Song of Polyphemus from Acis and Galatea
written by George Frideric Handel |
performed by Thomas Barnard |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | between 1770 and 1779 |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |
Notes
Thomas Barnard (bap. 1727–1806) was Dean of Derry 1769–80, and a member of Samuel Johnson’s Literary Club which met weekly for supper and conversation at the Turk’s Head tavern, Gerrard Street, Soho. He died on 7 June 1806. Since this entry in Hester Piozzi's diary precedes that of 28 May, a premature report of his death must have reached her.