Childhood: an autobiography of a boy from 1889-1906

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

48-49

text excerpt

[Edward Stewart-Humphries and his mother relocated from Cornwall to London in 1903. He worked as a page boy and other similar jobs at hotels and private clubs, visiting London Music Halls on a weekly basis] 

My memory [of Music Hall entertainments] lingers most, however, on George Gershwin [sic],the White-eyed Kaffir, a speciality turn with his long one-string fiddle. He invariably ended his act by singing the same tiny ditty which he accompanied on his fiddle. Indeed, he was not allowed to depart until, with due ceremony he had seated himself on a stool with fiddle resting on the floor; lights out except for a strong beam of light centred on his white-eyed black face: then to the sadly sweet music which he conjured from his lengthy fiddle he sang:

“My fiddle is my sweetheart, yes!

And I’m her faithful beau (bow).

I hug her close to my bosom, yes,

Because I love her so!”

The poignant sweetness he produced with his controlled tenor-falsetto voice in harmony with his fiddle was out of this world and endeared him for ever in all our memories. Unless my memory fails me, he was a great favourite at the old Middlesex in Drury Lane, then known as “the Old Mo”. 

excerpt from 'Childhood: an autobiography of a boy from 1889-1906' pp. 48-49 (207 words)

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1541268015550