DOI Heft:
March 16, 1861
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16867#0117
March 16, 1S6L] PUNCH, OE THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
109
when his theatre, Drury Lane, was on fire. The proposal was rejected
by 13S to 49. But Mr. Gladstone had no great cause for exultation,
for the next thing the House did was to appoint Mr. Gellibrand
Hubbard’s Committee on the Income-Tax.
Neither wise nor yet witty
Is every Committee:
Nous verroKS, which, Wiscount, implies “ we shall see,’
But we think, from each lad’s tone,
The grim Mr. Gladstone
Will have to look sharp after dear Schedule D.
OUR DRAMATIC CORRESPONDENT.
[' the risk of losing caste, dear
Punch, by being seen in
Islington, I the other even-
ing visited a place which in
my younger days was known
to people as the Eagle, and
by its habitues was called
more familiarly the Bird.
But as the present is an
age for nominal development,
the house is now more
grandly named the Royal
Grecian _ Theatre ; a title
which might lead one to ex-
pect to see a tragedy of
fEschylus presented, or to
hear the songs of the Birds
of Aristophanes (birds of
what ill omen to how many
lazy students!) sung in all
the purity of the ancient
Greek. The only bird, how-
ever, that was brought be-
fore my notice was in a pan-
tomime entitled The Blue
Bird of Paradise, which, to
myself and other visitors
arriving at half-price (this
privilege is here extended only to the stalls) constituted all the enter-
tainment of the night. Had I but, entered somewhat earlier—but that
dry port of old Beeswing’s is sadly hard to leave—I could have penned
you a description of Orlando the Outlaw, or the Orphanless Outcast, or
whatever else were the name of the first piece. This, the bill informed
me, began at half-past six, yet I am bound to own, the audience did not
seem at all fatigued by it. Ou the contrary, indeed, the house showed,
like the Commons, great ability for sitting; and when finally it rose, a
few minutes before midnight, there was not that haste to get away, as
though from something tiresome, which 1 have often lately noticed in
more fashionable theatres.
“ I am aware that I may possibly be charged with vulgar tastes, but
I must own that I laughed more at the lloyal Grecian pantomime than
I have done at those performed at many another royal house. I was
however sorry to find that the opening partook largely of the nature of
burlesque (I can’t tell you how I hate these pantomimic hybrids
which to my mind spoil both breeds) and it saddened me still more to
have to gape at a magnificent Transformation Scene, which taxed one’s
patience terribly while being bit by bit revealed. I think the audience
like myself felt it rather a relief when the Clown’s business began, and
their long strained staring ended. The Clown too was as good a one
as I have seen this year, and did not, like too many, let the acrobatic
element quite supersede the comic. The way he did his stealing was
much more ludicrous and artful than I have lately witnessed, and de-
serves my hearty thanks for the hearty laughs he won from me.
Clowns too often steal a thing as though it were their own, and they
had lawful right to take it. They forget too that a Clown, however
clever he may be, is essentially a fool; and has notwit enough to know
that a hot poker will burn him when he tries to pocket it. The
audience at the Eagle—I beg pardon, Mr. Conquest, I mean the
Royal Grecian—seemed quite alive to this. The loudest laughter won
from them was when the Clown, after endeavouring to pouch a mon-
strous codfish, _ strutted away unconscious of having left the head and
shoulders sticking out, thereby attracting Nemesis in the shape of a
policeman.
“ As an additional attraction to the City Road just now, there is the
fattest harlequin I think I ever saw. As I am myself somewhat
approaching to his size, and know what are the pangs of losing a good
figure, I scarce can tell if he more moved me to pity or applause by
his corpulent gyrations. Moreover, worthy of no small admiration
was Prince Pigmy, c once known as Humpdy Dumpdy,’ the bill politely
tells me; thus correcting the cacography I oftentimes have practised,
of spelling those two last names with a ‘ty5 instead of ‘dy.’ The way
in which this gentleman, whose legs were doubled under him, hopped
and skipped about, and sang that wondrous song The Cure with all its
acrobat accompaniment, was, as a voice behind me said, ‘ as good as
seein a sparrer,’ by which last noun the bird was meant and not the pupil
, of a prizefighter. I must add that there was much less vulgar slang
t in this Blue Bird than in most of the more Western burlesques that I
i have witnessed ■. and with only one exception, so far as I remained to
see (I mean where Clown lifts up his petticoat and says something to
PantalooD, who as Jack in the Green, is standing underneath him),
there is in word or gesture nought unsavoury or coarse. Considering
that the Gallery is nightly filled at fourpence each, and that only six-
pence is demanded at the Pit, I think this is a noticeable feature of the
theatre, and might be copied with advantage at houses higher-priced.
“ The bringing out of a new comedy, with a new actress for the first
time seen in a new part, deserves a better place for notice than the fag
end of a letter: but I must just state my firm conviction, that the
Duke in Difficulties certainly will draw, although the plot is partly second-
hand, nor is the writing quite first-rate. There is, however, plenty of
amusement in the piece, and it affords a pleasant, means for Mrs.
Stirling- to appear in concert with her daughter, preserving that
relation in the part which she presents. The audience highly relished
the allusions to this fact, which indeed supplied a novel interest to the
piece. Miss Stirling has bright eyes, and a pleasing voice and
manner, and will I think become a favourite with persons of good
taste. It is a rare pleasure to see something fresh upon the stage, and
this her girlish artlessness agreeably supplies. I hope soon to see her
again, and say the word of praise her mother’s acting merits, although
I think the play affords her hardly enough scope.
“ One wiio Pays.”
A WORD OE ADVICE TO THE BISHOPS.
Denounce Essayists and Reviewers,
Plang, quarter, gag or shoot them—
Excellent plans—provided that
You first of all refute them.
By all means let the Hangman burn
Their awful book to ashes,
But, don’t expect t,o settle thus
Their heterodox hashes.
Some heresies are so ingrained,
E’en burning won’t remove them,
A shorter and an easier way
You’ll find it—to disprove them.
Be this, right reverends, your revenge,
Eor souls the best of cure—
Essay Essayists to upset,
And to review Reviewers.
PRAY PITY THE POOR POPE.
A Journal with a name which we had rather write than endeavour
to pronounce, we mean the Oesterreichische Zeitung, lias informed us
that—■
“ Francis the Second is determined to stay at Rome as long as the Pope
remains there.”
Misfortune, we are told, acquaints men with strange bedfellows, and
some of them are not less strange than they are unpleasant. The Pope
has long been on a bed of anything but roses, but surely Bombalino’s
advent must add another thorn to it. It is the last feather that, breaks
the camel’s back, and his Holiness must find his weight of troubles
quite unbearable, now that he is burthened with tne presence of young
Francis. We own we have not yet felt much compassion for the
Pops, but this last blow is so terrible that it commands our deepest
sympathy. The absence of the Erencli, who keep his Holiness upon
his throne, could hardly be more painful thauthe presence of his visitor.
Certainly if anything can drive the Pope from Rome it must be the
sight of the juvenile ex-tyrant; aud we shall not be surprised to hear
his Holiness is packing up, and that, a three-pair back near Leicester
Square is ready for him. Why, it would almost be enough to drive
Punch out, of Elect Street to know he had that brute, youug Eomba,
for a neighbour.
TAe Music of Parliament
The County of Cork has returned Mr. Leader, Protestant Tory
i landlord, by the large majority of 3,400. Sir Ceobge Bowyer has
j hitherto led the Pope’s Brass Band alone, but now his duties, appa-
< rently, are to be shared by a Protestant leader.
;
i
;
I
i
!
109
when his theatre, Drury Lane, was on fire. The proposal was rejected
by 13S to 49. But Mr. Gladstone had no great cause for exultation,
for the next thing the House did was to appoint Mr. Gellibrand
Hubbard’s Committee on the Income-Tax.
Neither wise nor yet witty
Is every Committee:
Nous verroKS, which, Wiscount, implies “ we shall see,’
But we think, from each lad’s tone,
The grim Mr. Gladstone
Will have to look sharp after dear Schedule D.
OUR DRAMATIC CORRESPONDENT.
[' the risk of losing caste, dear
Punch, by being seen in
Islington, I the other even-
ing visited a place which in
my younger days was known
to people as the Eagle, and
by its habitues was called
more familiarly the Bird.
But as the present is an
age for nominal development,
the house is now more
grandly named the Royal
Grecian _ Theatre ; a title
which might lead one to ex-
pect to see a tragedy of
fEschylus presented, or to
hear the songs of the Birds
of Aristophanes (birds of
what ill omen to how many
lazy students!) sung in all
the purity of the ancient
Greek. The only bird, how-
ever, that was brought be-
fore my notice was in a pan-
tomime entitled The Blue
Bird of Paradise, which, to
myself and other visitors
arriving at half-price (this
privilege is here extended only to the stalls) constituted all the enter-
tainment of the night. Had I but, entered somewhat earlier—but that
dry port of old Beeswing’s is sadly hard to leave—I could have penned
you a description of Orlando the Outlaw, or the Orphanless Outcast, or
whatever else were the name of the first piece. This, the bill informed
me, began at half-past six, yet I am bound to own, the audience did not
seem at all fatigued by it. Ou the contrary, indeed, the house showed,
like the Commons, great ability for sitting; and when finally it rose, a
few minutes before midnight, there was not that haste to get away, as
though from something tiresome, which 1 have often lately noticed in
more fashionable theatres.
“ I am aware that I may possibly be charged with vulgar tastes, but
I must own that I laughed more at the lloyal Grecian pantomime than
I have done at those performed at many another royal house. I was
however sorry to find that the opening partook largely of the nature of
burlesque (I can’t tell you how I hate these pantomimic hybrids
which to my mind spoil both breeds) and it saddened me still more to
have to gape at a magnificent Transformation Scene, which taxed one’s
patience terribly while being bit by bit revealed. I think the audience
like myself felt it rather a relief when the Clown’s business began, and
their long strained staring ended. The Clown too was as good a one
as I have seen this year, and did not, like too many, let the acrobatic
element quite supersede the comic. The way he did his stealing was
much more ludicrous and artful than I have lately witnessed, and de-
serves my hearty thanks for the hearty laughs he won from me.
Clowns too often steal a thing as though it were their own, and they
had lawful right to take it. They forget too that a Clown, however
clever he may be, is essentially a fool; and has notwit enough to know
that a hot poker will burn him when he tries to pocket it. The
audience at the Eagle—I beg pardon, Mr. Conquest, I mean the
Royal Grecian—seemed quite alive to this. The loudest laughter won
from them was when the Clown, after endeavouring to pouch a mon-
strous codfish, _ strutted away unconscious of having left the head and
shoulders sticking out, thereby attracting Nemesis in the shape of a
policeman.
“ As an additional attraction to the City Road just now, there is the
fattest harlequin I think I ever saw. As I am myself somewhat
approaching to his size, and know what are the pangs of losing a good
figure, I scarce can tell if he more moved me to pity or applause by
his corpulent gyrations. Moreover, worthy of no small admiration
was Prince Pigmy, c once known as Humpdy Dumpdy,’ the bill politely
tells me; thus correcting the cacography I oftentimes have practised,
of spelling those two last names with a ‘ty5 instead of ‘dy.’ The way
in which this gentleman, whose legs were doubled under him, hopped
and skipped about, and sang that wondrous song The Cure with all its
acrobat accompaniment, was, as a voice behind me said, ‘ as good as
seein a sparrer,’ by which last noun the bird was meant and not the pupil
, of a prizefighter. I must add that there was much less vulgar slang
t in this Blue Bird than in most of the more Western burlesques that I
i have witnessed ■. and with only one exception, so far as I remained to
see (I mean where Clown lifts up his petticoat and says something to
PantalooD, who as Jack in the Green, is standing underneath him),
there is in word or gesture nought unsavoury or coarse. Considering
that the Gallery is nightly filled at fourpence each, and that only six-
pence is demanded at the Pit, I think this is a noticeable feature of the
theatre, and might be copied with advantage at houses higher-priced.
“ The bringing out of a new comedy, with a new actress for the first
time seen in a new part, deserves a better place for notice than the fag
end of a letter: but I must just state my firm conviction, that the
Duke in Difficulties certainly will draw, although the plot is partly second-
hand, nor is the writing quite first-rate. There is, however, plenty of
amusement in the piece, and it affords a pleasant, means for Mrs.
Stirling- to appear in concert with her daughter, preserving that
relation in the part which she presents. The audience highly relished
the allusions to this fact, which indeed supplied a novel interest to the
piece. Miss Stirling has bright eyes, and a pleasing voice and
manner, and will I think become a favourite with persons of good
taste. It is a rare pleasure to see something fresh upon the stage, and
this her girlish artlessness agreeably supplies. I hope soon to see her
again, and say the word of praise her mother’s acting merits, although
I think the play affords her hardly enough scope.
“ One wiio Pays.”
A WORD OE ADVICE TO THE BISHOPS.
Denounce Essayists and Reviewers,
Plang, quarter, gag or shoot them—
Excellent plans—provided that
You first of all refute them.
By all means let the Hangman burn
Their awful book to ashes,
But, don’t expect t,o settle thus
Their heterodox hashes.
Some heresies are so ingrained,
E’en burning won’t remove them,
A shorter and an easier way
You’ll find it—to disprove them.
Be this, right reverends, your revenge,
Eor souls the best of cure—
Essay Essayists to upset,
And to review Reviewers.
PRAY PITY THE POOR POPE.
A Journal with a name which we had rather write than endeavour
to pronounce, we mean the Oesterreichische Zeitung, lias informed us
that—■
“ Francis the Second is determined to stay at Rome as long as the Pope
remains there.”
Misfortune, we are told, acquaints men with strange bedfellows, and
some of them are not less strange than they are unpleasant. The Pope
has long been on a bed of anything but roses, but surely Bombalino’s
advent must add another thorn to it. It is the last feather that, breaks
the camel’s back, and his Holiness must find his weight of troubles
quite unbearable, now that he is burthened with tne presence of young
Francis. We own we have not yet felt much compassion for the
Pops, but this last blow is so terrible that it commands our deepest
sympathy. The absence of the Erencli, who keep his Holiness upon
his throne, could hardly be more painful thauthe presence of his visitor.
Certainly if anything can drive the Pope from Rome it must be the
sight of the juvenile ex-tyrant; aud we shall not be surprised to hear
his Holiness is packing up, and that, a three-pair back near Leicester
Square is ready for him. Why, it would almost be enough to drive
Punch out, of Elect Street to know he had that brute, youug Eomba,
for a neighbour.
TAe Music of Parliament
The County of Cork has returned Mr. Leader, Protestant Tory
i landlord, by the large majority of 3,400. Sir Ceobge Bowyer has
j hitherto led the Pope’s Brass Band alone, but now his duties, appa-
< rently, are to be shared by a Protestant leader.
;
i
;
I
i
!