'VI . -■4-*: mati 'ii CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Prof. Hurwitz PRINTED IN U.S A _., ^^ Corneir University Library PN 2598.B27A31 „ More Rutland Barrjngton. 3 1924 027 118 334 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924027118334 More Rutland Barrington RUTLAND HARRINGTON More Rutland garrington By Himself ^ Illustrated London Grant Richards Ltd. 1911 PRINTED BY THE RIVERSIDE PRESS UNITED EDINBURGH Preface It appears to be the custom for all writers of such nondescript matter as " recollections " and " re- miniscences" of a personal character to apologise to the public for inflicting on it a volume which it is quite within the bounds of possibility may have been anticipated with a certain amount of eagerness and received with the same ratio of pleasure. If this apology is imperative in the case of a " first offence," what the mode of procedure in the event of a second production may be I have no opportunity of knowing, this being the first time I have projected a second volume ; possibly it may take the form of a modest allusion to the necessity for the second volume being pointed out by the publisher as a natural sequence to the reception of the first. Be this as it may, however, in offering my second venture to the attention of a discriminating public, I fail to see the need of any apology, and this for several reasons ; firstly, that (with the exceptions of myself and the publisher's reader) no one is obUged to read the book ; secondly, that the congratulatory, and therefore marvellously correct, treatment the first volume received at the hands of my friends the reviewers is a distinct invitation to afford them another opportunity of demonstrating their unswerv- 7 PREFACE ing attitude of kindliness ; and thirdly because, while I have met many friends and acquaintances who were good enough to express the pleasure afforded them by my first volume, I have met a far more numerous contingent of both who were quite unaware that I had " done a book " at all ! This last reason appears to me to contain, as they say a woman's postscript so often does, the gist of the whole matter, and therefore might well have been written first, but I will let the others stand, and content myself with pointing out as my " lastly " the very obvious conclusion that the issuing of a second volume will call a renewed attention to the first, a point which, in the properly balanced authorial mind, bears no commercial significance whatever, being simply the outcome of a desire that no one should miss what they might find enjoyable. During an interval at one of the strenuous rehearsals of The Girl in the Train I was chatting with an old friend and well-known playwright, and the talk turned on the subject of my book, which he was kind enough to say he had read with great pleasure — but (it is nearly always present, that "but," I find) he hardly thought it wise for an actor to " reminisce " unless he were on the point of retiring or, better still, had done so, and when I confessed my intention of starting a second volume he firmly declared that I had no right to do that " unless I was dead"! This is a line of reasoning that 1 find myself quite unable to follow, and having been guilty of the first 8 PREFACE offence, and not, as yet, feeling even moribund, it is my grim determination to commit the second, I have seen and done so much since writing the vpord "Finis" to my first book (now^ I come to think of it I do not believe it is there) that I am inspired to hope that some at least of my many experiences may be found of passing interest to those fortunate enough to read them. With this hope looming large I then venture upon my second attempt to amuse without instructing, and if I should achieve but a modicum of success in the former motive it will more than counterbalance the distress I shall feel if my efforts were, quite unin- tentionally, to stray in the direction of the latter! The Author. The author is indebted to Messrs Maull w o ffi H ■s o D XI O c ►-^ ?= n w m ^ H fU r£3 a If J3 T. R. PAIGNTON in the provinces. The part fell to me when the piece was done in London, and I felt a keen interest in visiting the locale of its birth at the Bijou Theatre, Paignton, but to my dismay I could find no trace of any such theatre. Having secured the attention of "the oldest inhabitant" I elicited the fact that "he thought he'd heard on plays being given at the old hotel yonder," and sure enough, on inquiring of the courteous and hospitable landlord, Mr Webb, I was shown what remained of the Bijou Theatre, in former times the only place of entertain- ment in the little town. The stage has been converted into a billiard-room, and folding-doors shut it off from what was the tiny auditorium, but to my surprise there was no com- memorative tablet to be seen recording the honour the little room had received, an omission, however, which Mr Webb declared he should speedily rectify. Several members of our company being with me, including Miss Trevor Lloyd, who has sung several of the soprano parts in these operas, we gave an excerpt from the Pirates in the shape of the chorus of Police, she representing Mabel and I the entire police force, and other friends filling in the bits they knew, and, according to my intimate knowledge of the music, the bits they did not. It was a joyous quarter of an hour, and greatly amused the landlord and his entire staff, among whom was the inevitable old waiter, who might have been present at the copyright performance, and who evidently thought us a parcel of lunatics. 123 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON One of the ladies of the company gave a little supper that night to mark the occasion, the menu of which, though original, required a certain amount of bravery to tackle at midnight, consisting as it did of hare soup, hot-pot liberally sprinkled with mush- rooms, a very alcoholic trifle, and a special cuvei of lager, demi-chaud. There were some "heads" the next morning, and fortunately no rehearsal necessi- tated early rising, but I am convinced that the climate of Torquay, while perhaps inducing it, is by no means suited to high living. 124 CHAPTER XI MARKETING— RUGGER— " FAITHFUL JAMES "—BURNLEY One of the charms of living in apartments when on tour is undoubtedly to be found in the necessary marketing, or perhaps it might be more accurately described as " shopping," there being very few men, I fancy, who possess more than the vaguest idea as to what they ought to pay for provend. Plummer was a greater adept in the art than I, and would frequently head me off from some delicacy which had caught my eye, generally in a fishmonger's, and which at the same moment had appealed to his nose. The only article in the purchase of which I would brook no interference was bacon, and to obtain this concession I had to bribe him by allowing him to buy a bottle of some very pungent and much ad- vertised sauce, which I simply detested, and of which he partook so sparingly that three parts of the bottle travelled with us for several weeks, and was finally used by a mistaken landlady as a hair- wash. 1 do not wish to draw any comparison on the intellectual qualities of the different species of shop assistants, but it was forcibly brought to my notice that grocers must be an eminently observant type, for in at least four towns which I had never before visited I was greeted, at the conclusion of my 125 MORE RUTLAM) BARRINGTON purchases, with the remark. "What address, Mr Barrington ? " This never failed to tickle the infini- tesimal strain of conceit which we are told is a universal attribute of the theatrical profession, and did much to restore the balance of self-respect which the frequent indifference of the landlady to the most genuine pretensions had severely shaken. One of the strongest characteristics of theatrical landladies is their garruhty, which, combined with the almost invariable familiarity they display, is occasionally rather irritating. A habit to which I am much addicted when ab- sorbing a lonely meal is that of reading a book, and I was once driven nearly to distraction while revelling in one of Cosmo Hamilton's delightful stories, at breakfast, by a talkative landlady (they don't do it so much at dinner — possibly because I usually dined out), who would insist on telling me about all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas in which she had seen me play ; as a matter of fact she had never seen me at all: I had never before been to the town in question, and she was mistaking me for my old friend of the D'Oyly Carte Company, Fred Billington. From Torquay to Newport, Monmouth, was another striking illustration of the value of contrast in promoting that equable temperament so invaluable to the touring actor. Here is no lovely bay sur- rounded with purple madder cliffs bathed in the opalescent glories of the setting sun, the faint blue haze of smoke curling upwards from farm and cottage, in the still air, as emblems of peace and rest. In 126 THE HARDY AUTOGRAPH HUNTER their places we have the far-reaching and impressive docks, the forest of red funnels in place of the chfFs, the black reek of smoke which tells of approaching departure as the mighty engines strain at the leash of their massive chain cables, amid the almost deafening intermittent roar of the coal as it is poured into the insatiable maw of these sea-going monsters. If at Torquay you sleep, at Newport you must wake, and be up and doing if you would hold your own, not to mention a bit of theirs. As a slight proof of the alertness of the residents I will instance the case of a lady and her daughter, strangers to me, who, desirous of securing my auto- graph, had called at several hotels and the theatre, all to no purpose, and finally ran me to earth in the main street, laden with market produce which I was carrying home. The album and a pen and ink were straightway produced, and I was compelled to stand and deliver, which I did while the pretty daughter held the groceries and the sweet biscuits. Fortunately the bloaters were to be delivered by cart. Newport is nothing if not energetic, and even football seems a more strenuous game here than elsewhere, so much so that after years of allegiance to the soccer game, as being the better to look on at, my preference was considerably undermined on witnessing a great match between Newport and Swansea, old and keen antagonists. Through the courtesy of Mr Dauncey, a prominent official of the club, I was enabled to see Newport 127 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON maintain their unbeaten record, and the match was such a revelation to me of the possibihties of the game, to which I had been a stranger for many- years, that I have since taken every opportunity of witnessing first-class matches. The majority of the team occupied stalls at the theatre the same evening, at our invitation, but their presence was not an unmixed blessing, we on the stage being curious to observe the heroes of the fray, the heroes themselves being chiefly occupied in reading what the evening papers said of the match and their individual efforts, and the rest of the audience devoting the major part of their attention to the heroes. During our week in Blackburn the manager of the theatre in Burnley came over and was so much pleased with our programme as to invite us to go to him for the week including New Year's Day, which we agreed to do. This left a hiatus of three weeks after finishing at Newport, which was very kindly filled in for me at the Tivoli by my ever-courteous friends Mr Sutton and Mr Tozer. I chose for this appearance an old one-act comedy by B. C. Stephen- son called Faithful James, which I was able to cast and rehearse among the company on tour, so that we left Newport on the Sunday and opened at the Tivoli without a break, on the following Monday. This little comedy went so extremely well that 1 fondly imagined I had at last found my "golden egg " for the halls, but I was once again doomed to disappointment, the managerial verdict being that T28 GARDENING v. ACTING there was not enough of me in the piece to make it a " star turn " ; I believe that what they really want is a twenty-five-minute version of The Mikado, but I have some diffidence in approaching Sir William Gilbert with such a suggestion. This engagement gave us breathing space to re- hearse one or two new-comers who were to play in Jericho for the Burnley week, and our doing so on the stage of the Tivoli, very kindly lent by the management, excited a little wonder on the part of stray spectators as to what kind of sketch for the halls it was that had four acts. One of the spectators was a stage hand whom I had known for years, and who invariably displayed a most friendly interest in my work. I noticed him wearing a somewhat anxious expression, and on asking the cause of it was met with the inquiry, made in a most sympathetic tone : " Well, guv'nor, I like wot I've 'card of it very much — but — wot about the time limit ? " One of the new ladies, engaged in James and being considered for The Walls, a very charming and sympathetic little actress, had some rather quaint notions as to the obligations of a contract, having on one occasion granted herself a three weeks' leave of absence because " her garden needed attention," and on another because "spring was coming and she must go home and look after her daffodils ! " These derelictions from duty she herself confessed, but as there did not seem much scope for gardening operations in Burnley during the limited period of I 129 MORE RUTLAND HARRINGTON one week she was engaged for the part which required filling, and of which she gave an excellent performance. I must also do her the justice to say that, when 1 returned from Burnley to a three weeks' engagement at the Pavilion, once more with Faithful James, she was never once absent, nor did she express the faintest hint of an interest in horticultural pursuits. I had some trouble in casting the part of an irascible Admiral for this engagement, finally securing an excellent actor, who was, however, more at home in " costume " plays, and found some difficulty in adapting his cultivated dignity of diction and gesture to the prestissimo agitato method required on the halls. That he succeeded in doing so proved him an actor of resource, but I think he never fully overcame the reluctance with which he wore, through the exigencies of the play, a very battered and dilapidated tall hat, with which he could not, with all his resource, accomplish the recognised high- comedy salutation. I had a charming illustration, during this engage- ment, of the ready manner in which artists on the music-hall stage wUl come forward to help a brother or sister player out of an impasse. A member of my company had made a mistake of a whole hour in the time fixed for our sketch at a matinde and, having naturally sent no word, we were all left wondering what had happened and what to do. In the mean- time our "turn" arrived, and was readily filled by other artists, among whom were Miss Vesta Victoria, who most kindly sang an extra song, on being in- 130 VESTA VICTORIA formed that the missing man had arrived, and would be ready in two minutes, just as I was suggesting to the stage manager that I had better do a single turn with a piano. I was extremely grateful to Miss Victoria, and said so, for, apart from the pleasure of hearing her ad- ditional song, I will admit that the prospect of giving a sketch at the piano disguised as an elderly and artful-looking waiter did not appeal to me very forcibly. Songs and sketches at a piano form a class of entertainment over which I have never been able to " enthuse " to any great extent, even when given by the very best exponents — a feeling which naturally militates against a personal production of the airy and dashing manner which seems so necessary to bring these items to a successful issue. The archness and vivacity of the feminine expon- ents of this form of art are, of course, extremely acceptable, as being attributes of the sex for which one looks, but when exploited by a "mere man" scarcely possess the same attraction. The frequency with which our anticipations of a pleasure to come fail to materialise has an echo in the fewer occasions on which a pleasurable realisation is not expected, a notable example of which, to me, was our visit to Burnley. For one thing the town was very much excited over the forthcoming election, when a close fight was regarded as a certainty, and a possible victory for the Conservative candidate anticipated in what had 131 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON formerly been a hot-bed of radicalism. I notice that I have written " conservative " with a capital " C " and " radicalism " with a small " r " — an unconscious indication of my political tendencies. By way of doing what I could for the cause, I made a practice of holding talks with " the man in the street " when- ever I could find one with the leisure to stand and gaze at the electoral picture posters which plastered the walls. The term " picture " posters is somewhat of a misnomer, for the glaring crudites of these works of art, both in colour and drawing, in many cases invited ridicule instead of sympathy, but never- theless I presume they were not without effect, in view of the final triumph of Mr Arbuthnot, who was also singularly fortunate in having the assistance of such energetic canvassers as his wife and Sir John and Lady Thursby. It was a great disappointment when our candidate failed to retain his seat at the celebrated Budget election of December 1910, and, while I do not for one moment suggest that the loss of my assistance as a canvasser affected the result in the slightest degree, I take pleasure in the fact that he was elected within a few days of my visit, during which I was as conspicuous in my absence from any meetings as 1 was from the town itself on the later occa- sion. We had a very pleasant and amusing luncheon one day during the week, at Ormerod Hall, during which all election topics were taboo, the punish- ment for breach of the rule being something that 133 BURNLEY AND GROUSE fitted the crime, as Gilbert put it, and it was very odd how anyone on the brink of an indiscretion immediately became troubled with a cough. The moment lunch was over the canvassing recommenced over the telephone, while Sir John and I left for a drive over the moors in a car, a Scotch plaid and a Scotch mist. Within a mile or two of Burnley's smoky chimneys we were out on the moors, and the car put up the first brace of grouse I had ever seen, except at the poulterer's or on the table, and at the moment I honestly thought I preferred them on the moor. The mist had developed into a strong resemblance to a sea fog, and when we turned for home at the keeper's cottage — being stopped by a wall of it, the fog, I mean— I wondered how he knew where he was, and ever found his way into the town. The natives of Burnley I found most friendlily dis- posed, and one of them on one occasion embarrassingly so. It was a very wet night and, having ordered a cab to take me home after work, I offered a lift to three of the ladies who lived near me. They ac- cepted, and whether the sense of responsibility proved too much for the horse, or for what other reason will never be known, at the bottom of a hill, which he should have ascended, he preferred to break a shaft and assume a recumbent attitude on the road — I am not sure that the awful granite setts with which the town is paved are entitled to the definition " road," but let that pass (I trust for some time)— at all events there we were, and had to remain while the cabman 133 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON mended both the shaft and the horse with pieces of string. During the proceedings I naturally lowered the window to look out for a moment, when I ob- served a lady, in the national costume of clogs and shawl (and other garments, I believe), taking a great interest in the operations. As soon as she saw me she approached the window, whereupon I modestly withdrew my head, when, actuated by an evident de- sire to help in some way, she put her head right inside the carriage and murmured : " Are ye a lone man ? " in a most sympathetic voice. The expression of her face on seeing the three ladies in the cab was delight- fully quaint, being a mixture of surprise and reproof, but their silence must have alienated her sympathy, for she left hurriedly, whereupon the three ladies plied me with the most puzzling and pertinent questions as to the meaning of the incident, utterly dechning to accept my explanation that her action was prompted by pure friendship. In many cases it is the surest way to earn the discredence of the fair sex by asserting the absolute truth, but in this instance they were perhaps right, one of them even mischievously suggesting that I had used a superfluous adjective. New Year's Eve we all felt should be celebrated in some manner, and a committee — consisting of Hanworth, Browning, Edwards, Plummer and myself — was appointed to " see what could be done." The first obvious step was to interview the proprietor of a good hotel with a view to supper, with merriment and late hours to follow; he was soon found, and 134 NEW YEAR'S EVE SUPPER agreed to do all we required if we could content ourselves with what his head waiter described as " a cold calculation." I have heard it called " cold collection," before now, but never "calculation," but to prove that he meant it he repeated it several times. The next consideration was the presents, and here I called in the assistance of one of the ladies, with excellent results ; the only gift costing more than twopence was a little tin engine (fourpence) for the manager, chosen in view of the fact that in arrang- ing our journeys he had proved himself a walking Bradshaw. The hero of the play, having returned from Australia, had of course a box of woolly sheep, and the whole company were suitably " gifted," much to their amusement. The reason for a cold calculation being imperative was that the staff of the hotel was being indulged with its annual ball, in which we all joined after supper, and feeling that I owed the staff a debt for their complaisance I conscripted our men for their ladies and personally conducted a quadrille with a delightful cook as my partner. There was one very weird dance, caUed, I fancy, the Military Two Step, which I danced with a pretty little woman who acted as our wardrobe-mistress, and which I fancied I was rather good at until she asked me to stop and told me that I knew nothing about it ; feeling a little hurt I handed her over to one of the company who I knew could not dance, by way of revenge, but she afterwards told me " he was 135 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON first rate," which made me wonder what I could have been. I overheard a remark of one of the stage hands one night to the effect that he " couldn't quite make out this company — they're all ladies and gentle- men," which rather pleased me, but unfortunately, immediately after making it, he very clumsily trod on the gown of one of the ladies, with disastrous results to a beautiful lace overskirt, and a very excusable " damn " was launched at him ; whether our pretensions to gentility had annoyed, as weU as puzzled, him, I do not know, but the "reproof" was received with a smile of pleasure which plainly said " now I know where I am ! " 136 CHAPTER XII CAMBRIDGE " RAGGING " — CIRCUITOUS ROUTK MARCHING — IRELAND February 1910 sees me once more " on the road," once more with Jericho and once more with practi- cally the same company. Cambridge was our start- ing point this time, and during the three days of our stay the "men" did everything in their power to give us a good time in every way. Plummer and I were again room-mates, and on our arrival found a note awaiting us, almost in the form of a Royal Command, to the effect that we were expected to dine with the writer, one MacCormick, a nephew of his, and a most excellent dinner it was too, con- ceived and executed in a lavish spirit, the sole note of parsimony struck being the restriction of choice in the matter of liqueurs to eight ! I had only once before been to Cambridge, some years ago, when my nephew, Rutland F. Cumberleye, was playing in the Varsity rugger team, when I had the same cheery welcome, but this was to be my first experience of play-acting to them, and a very pleasant one it proved. There was just a moment of wonder on my part as to whether our friendly relations were to be maintained in their integrity when the curtain went up on the Saturday 137 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON night, discovering me at the piano prepared for song and story, and I was greeted by a stentorian voice from the stalls, proceeding, I believe, from Brown of Clare, asking : " How are you, old Sport ? " I was much touched at this proof of a kindly anxiety as to my health tendered by an absolute stranger, and gratefully replied : " Very well indeed. How are you, young Blood ? " — a little interchange of com- pliments which seemed to vastly amuse the rest of the audience. Whether this proved the signal for opening the floodgates of conversation, or whether it was the usual mode of procedure, I do not know, but there followed a stream of interrogations and remarks, during my stories, to all of which I replied, fortunately without losing the thread of my dis- course, culminating in one of my auditors (who had evidently been present the evening before), on my commencing a certain story, very kindly and promptly announcing the point. I very sweetly recommended him to take a turn outside, as he had heard it, advice which was backed up by the rest of his confreres in the stalls, and this soiree conver- sationale then closed with honours easy. This disposition to " rag " the performers has been, I am told, handed down as de rigeur from pre- historic days, and, if met in the good-humoured way in which it is meant, is quite an addition to the pleasure of the evening, but there have been cases where the artist has resented it, with disastrous results to the entire performance. I addressed a letter to the editor of the Granta, 138 RAGGING ACTORS on the subject, which was published on the following Saturday together with some sympathetic editorial remarks, and I heard later on a rumour to the effect that the " powers that be had seriously considered the advisability of putting the theatre out of bounds " ; it has not been done, however, and would have been not only a serious mistake, but a great deprivation to undergraduates and play-actors anxious to make an exhaustive study of mutual characteristics. Much depends upon the mood in which the victim of ragging may chance to be ; there is naturally no time in which to think that personal remarks suddenly flung at you may be, in fact, generally are, the ebul- lition of youth and good -nature — in most cases that is — for there have been occasions when offence was meant and taken — and happy is he who, as in my instance, feels fit and well, recognises the procedure as the outcome of irresponsible frivolity, and is equal to the occasion ; he is absolutely sure to command the sympathy and attention of the " raggers " for the remainder of the evening, but should anything have chanced to bring him to his work in a bad humour, and he indulge in the "retort discourteous," woe betide his possibility of a hearing ! After this amusing experience, I was curious to observe the behaviour of these hght-hearted young bloods on leaving the theatre, and, as the part I was playing made its final exit in Act III., I was able to dress and patrol the opposite side of the street; I was at once struck with the fact that there were at least three sets of proctors and bull-dogs on duty, and 139 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON pulling down my cap, and turning up the collar of my coat, I did my best to invite their attention by my suspicious loitering, but, to my great chagrin, to no purpose. The crowd shortly streamed out of the theatre, and it was quite entertaining to watch lighted pipes being thrust into pockets and remnants of black cloth, simulating gowns, being assumed at sight of the authorities. I had the satisfaction of seeing one up- roarious young gentleman proctorised, but his was not a case of too much theatre, as he came from the opposite direction, and was too elaborately dignified to attempt escape, and so robbed me of the treat I desired, that of seeing the bull-dogs give chase. The number of tea-parties we crowded into the three days, as well as the cakes we were expected to demolish at each, was something astounding, and en- abled one to realise why the permission given to all pastrycooks' assistants to eat as much as they like, is not so recklessly extravagant or hospitable as it sounds. From Cambridge to Hastings we travelled in very roundabout manner through some six or seven counties in order not to leave a certain railway system which had promised us in return to furnish a special train some three weeks later on to enable us to catch a boat for Ireland after working on the Saturday night ; this was reasonable enough, but as it had already been settled that we should not travel by that particular boat, and therefore not need the 140 VALENTINES special train, the circuitous route was a superfluity of consideration. What a totally different aspect such intensely " summer " towns as Hastings present in the winter ! — nowhere to go, nothing to do, and very little to see, with the exception of a professor who made a shivery dive from the pier-head twice daily. We were busy rehearsing one morning when two ladies came to inspect the seats they wished to book in the balcony ; they took no notice of the company on the stage and discussed the matter of their seats at the tops of their voices until I remarked : "I do hope we are not disturbing you ? " when they dis- covered us and fled, I fear without booking seats at all. There was a most cosy little caf^ here, run by two ladies and their mother, with whom I made great friends, and when the afternoon-tea customers had all departed we gathered round the fire and the dear old lady gave me her impression of Savoy operas, all of which she had seen and loved ; to have been a Savoyard seems a universal passport to the esteem and con- sideration of Savoy devotees, and is by no means to be despised as a recommendation to their unvarying hospitality. To Worthing on St Valentine's Day, where, having an Early Victorian desire to send one away I ransacked the town to find it, but without success. In my younger days I remember how we boys used to save up our pocket-money for weeks in order to buy ex- pensive rubbish to send to our " loves " ; and it was 141 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON also useful as a declaration of a passion which might not hitherto have been suspected, and ajBfords an indi- cation of Early Victorian simplicity which would seem to have vanished with the pretty fashion itself. The modern youth has other ways of expressing devotion, and more often than not" expects the "present" to come from the opposite direction. Another point of contrast may be noted between " then and now " in that while, in those days, we felt ourselves honoured in the proud possession of " a love," the modern swain is to be frequently heard alluding to his " best girl," an expression which bears the prima facie indication of a host of aspirants to the honour of his notice, a complete reversal of the customs of chivalry of which we need not feel inordinately proud. Max O'ReU has written exhaustively and delight- fully on this subject and it might not be an un- profitable procedure to include his essays in the curriculum of schools for the youth of both sexes. I found several relations and many friends in Worthing who deplored the fact that, it being Lent, they were unable to give themselves the pleasure of going to the theatre. This struck me as most edify- ing behaviour, but my admiration of their sense of duty was rather chilled on finding out by judicious questioning that they were not prepared to forgo the pleasures of bridge and rinking. When I ventured to ask for an explanation of the difference, an argu- ment ensued which ended in my rescuing a cousin from the fold of intolerance and providing him, at his 143 AS " PERKS " IN " A MEMBER OF TATTERSALLS," WORTHING LENTEN OBSERVANCES own expense, with a pleasant evening in the proscribed area. We were to suffer much more severely from the strict observance of Lent a httle later on in Ireland, but that this is so is a fact so widely known and appreciated that it becomes your own fault if you court disaster by going there during this period. We, however, did so, and met with the same incon- sistency as obtains in England, exemplified by the holding of a Point-to-Point race-meeting at which the whole countryside was present, priests included. By way of breaking the journey from Worthing to Cork, we put in a week at Derby, another town which 1 had never previously visited, where our stay was considerably cheered by the hospitality of the officers of the Sherwood Foresters, at the depot. To one of them, by name Stackhouse, I was indebted for a charming excursion by motor car to Repton School, a stroll round the precincts of which made me long for my reincarnation as a schoolboy in residence, the sentiment being intensified by the reception of a cheery nod of salutation from " The Head," an old cricket opponent. From Derby to Cork, starting on a Sunday morn- ing, is a journey offering a great variety of scenes, expressions, pleasures and pains ; occupying as it did from nine-thirty a.m. on Sunday until three- thirty P.M. on the Monday. One of the bright spots was the excellent dinner provided by the management while waiting two hours for the boat at Holyhead, which we enjoyed 143 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON in blissful ignorance of the rising wind which was shortly to make some of us feel we never wished to eat again. The majority of us were so thankful to get into a train again at Kingstown that we followed a total stranger who resembled our manager, and having bestowed all our personal hand-luggage about the carriage, and ourselves in comfortable corners, were snatching a fitful dose when we arrived at Kings- bridge, where the ticket-collector drew our attention to the fact that we had commandeered a first saloon in place of the third-class we were entitled to, and in- sisted on our changing. This we absolutely refused to do until breakfast had been served ; and we had our way, and our breakfast (some of us), and travelled in comfort to Limerick Junction, where we did have to move, to change, but as our belongings were too numerous to move in the time allowed for stopping they were permitted to remain where they were, thus furnishing the Irish situation of the luggage travelling first class, and the owners thereof third. I was told that I should find the Irish theatrical landladies most genial and obliging, and so indeed they are, but unless my experiences were unfortunate I should say that a great part of their geniality is assumed for the purpose of concealing shortcomings in the necessities, not to say luxuries, of fife and, incidentally, to prevent austere inquiries into the cleanliness, or otherwise, of their rooms and belong- ings. Our landlady in Cork was an example, for when, 144 IRISH LANDLADIES having spilt a jugful of hot water on the floor of my bedroom, necessitating a great deal of mopping up, I told her I had no idea how pretty the pattern of the oilcloth was, she was offended almost beyond pacification, and for two days went about looking like a terrier who has been discarded for a pom, until I set matters right by an audaciously inspired encomium on her cooking. I only did this under protest, Plummer begging me to do so because " she really had a sweet nature " ! The morning bath never furnished more than sufficient hot water for one, and a music-hall star, who was also staying in the house and had found this out, used to be called at seven to bathe and go back to bed, as Plummer declared, on purpose to annoy us. The landlady said the majority of her lodgers took their morning bath during the afternoon, but, in cross-examination, we elicited the fact that the afternoon was the time they selected for breakfast. The members of the Cork City Club would be very bad to beat for hospitality anywhere, I fancy ; there were luncheons and supper-parties galore, and one would-be host suggested a breakfast-party, but seven-thirty was too early for us. . We found auction bridge in full swing here, and Browning, as the author of a book on the subject, was reputed as a shining light, some of the glory of which refracted on me, but I rather dented my halo by playing as " no trumps " a hand in which I had been left with the call of " two hearts " ; the truth being that, at the next table to ours, five men were K 145 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON engaged in a game which seemed to demand loud shouting, and peals of laughter, called I believe " Spoilfive." One of our " principal hosts " — and very well he played the part — named Wallis, very kindly drove me out to Carrignavar for my first experience of a Point- to-Point meeting in Ireland, where I met more charming people, including the officers of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who held the meeting, and fortified the refreshment tent to stand the hospitable siege of all comers. I do not remember ever before meeting at one time so many present and ex-M.F.H.'s, and the whole thing went with a swing and evident enjoyment of the sport which was most refreshing. Tips abounded of course, and I had a bet on the race, but failed to find a winner, but Plummer, who was unable to come out, had commissioned me to back the favourite in the second race for half-a- sovereign for him, which I entirely forgot to do ; it won, and of course I had to pay, but, fortunately, it was only an even-money chance so did not make matters much worse, especially after deducting my winning commission. My friend Wallis had great hopes of winning the open race with a horse of his, called Good Settler, but about three fences from home, when he looked to have quite a good winning chance, he suddenly avjfoke to the meaning of his name, and proceeded to illustrate it in the bog, leaving us to our share of the responsibility with the bookmakers. That horses are very human, and understand more 146 ILLEGITIMATE RACE STORY than some of us imagine, was proved to me in another instance when in Dublin ; there was a theatrical company which included among its members a horse, which was being boxed for Cork, wearing the most indignant expression imaginable, and on inquiry I found that the railway company had demanded a fee of sixpence per mile for his conveyance ; this appear- ing to a manager excessive, he had appealed in vain for a reduction of the charge, but a solution of the difficulty was found in booking him at a cheaper rate as " fish," a definition of horseflesh which he evidently very strongly resented. I had a good story from Major Lynch, for the truth of which he and others vouched, apropos of one of the illegal race-meetings which used to be so popular over here. A man was out with the hounds and took a toss, pursued his loose horse for some two miles, and finally arrived at one of the said meetings, to find that his horse had been caught, christened, entered for a race which was just about to start, and for which he was a hot favourite ; his " owner " was up, racing colours and all, and only relinquished his mount on payment of ten shillings, the real owner even then having a narrow escape of being roughly handled by the crowd, which saw itself done out of a supposedly " good thing " ! He was also responsible for a version, which was new to me, of the definition of an Irish " bull " given by a peasant who was asked for his idea, and after much thought evolved the following : — " Well, sorr, av ye go into a meadow where there's fourteen cows lyin' 147 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON down, an' one av thim cows is shstandin' up — that cow'U be the bull ! " We had persuaded one of the ladies of our company to form a menage a trois with us in Cork — I need hardly say of a perfectly harmless character, or I should certainly not have alluded to it — subject to a week's notice on her part when she considered it desirable to terminate the contract, and it was an inestimable boon to Plummer and myself to have such a charming mess-president and supervisor of general comforts. Her presence was also an admirable corrective to the almost inevitable slackness of good manners which assails the touring actor who perforce must live a self-centred existence, and when, in addi- tion, the C. O. proves herself such an absolute bon camarade as did ours, her beneficent influence can hardly be over-estimated. That the situation may, however, be productive of some bewilderment to strangers was brought to our notice in Dublin, where a severe attack of tonsilitis necessitated the calling in of a doctor ; being " next for duty " I fetched him, and after his interview he returned to make his report. Plummer and I were at breakfast, and when he alluded to the patient as my wife, I of course undeceived him, whereupon he at once spoke of her as Mrs Plummer ; being once more undeceived, he hardly seemed to know what to make of it, but he did not throw up his brief, and later on complimented both of us on our qualities as hospital nurses, which commendation we were proud to have endorsed by the patient. 148 JOKE THAT FAILED He was discussing " throats " of all kinds with me one day and I told him a true story of a lady of my acquaintance who had a peculiar kind of flat-footed, shuffling walk which I found very difficult to keep step with ; I ventured one day to ask her the reason of it and her answer struck me as most amusing, being that " she had had a bad attack of diphtheria when a child." Never having heard of diphtheria in the feet I expected the doctor to laugh as heartily as I had, but the humour failed to strike him, and he waited, with that disconcerting expression that seems to say " Well ? " and I was forced to say " That's all," and laugh myself, but all undaunted I tried him again, this time with some success, with the story of the old lady who asked the policeman, " Where will I get the tram for Blackrock, sorr ? " and received for answer, "If ye stay where ye are, ma'am, ye'U get it in the small of yer back ! " I had a somewhat Irish criticism in one of the influential Dublin journals on my " entertainment," which it described as " not in any way brilliant, but perhaps serves its purpose, as being only meant to be a trifle." The mention of " trifle " recalls a most delightful supper-party given us by Mrs Gunn, the widow of my old friend, and D'Oyly Carte's partner, Michael Gunn, who has not long since retired from the active management of the Dublin theatre, which she took over on her husband's death. Among other delicacies she produced a bottle of very ancient liqueur called Trappistine (her husband's cellar was 149 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON famous among his friends), which we found appealed to us very strongly indeed. Mrs Gunn asked if I would carry a bottle of it to my wife, with her love, which I was naturally pleased to do, but never did present run so many risks of not reaching its destination as did that bottle. I could not get home for some weeks, and every Sunday I unpacked on arrival it stared me in the face and asked me to uncork it, which I certainly should have done but for Plummer's stern sense of honesty and firmly expressed intention not to touch a drop of it if I did ; it eventually got safely home and was not appreciated ! ISO CHAPTER XIII BELFAST — PERTH — A PERTHSHIRE IDYLL It may have been only imagination on my part, but I most certainly received the impression that Belfast was not as strict in its Lenten observances as Dublin and Cork, anyhow it was gratifying to notice an improvement in our business. We were excellently housed here too, and the landlady was the proud possessor of a delightful little baby girl who insisted on supplementing her private commissariat by visiting us at every meal except supper, and demanding her share of whatever was going ; she must have had a rare digestion, but tried it rather highly on one occasion when we found her nearly choked with a lengthy strip of bacon rind she had annexed when unnoticed. It was otherwise a very uneventful week, being too wet for golf, and only redeemed by the incidents of the departure and passage to Glasgow, for which we inherited the reversion of a special steamer which had been chartered to bring over the entire company and effects of Pinkie and the Fairies. Some half-dozen of us assembled for mid-day dinner, before going aboard, at Miss Trevor Lloyd's rooms, and there was tremendous excitement in the street on the arrival of large contingents of Fairies in 151 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON furs and attendant nurses and governesses, all look- ing as if the passage had hardly been as smooth as they could have wished. I had several saloon berths for the voyage, few of which I used owing to the marvellous smoothness of the sea and the clear night, a combination which offered an irresistible temptation to remain on deck, A short nap, lasting as far as the end of Belfast Lough, fortified me for my night watch which was full of interest. The lights of Ayr, Arran and Ardrossan opened up in turn and the effect was most strikingly beautiful as the islands loomed out of the clear dark of the night, with little points of light increasing from stars to lamps as we drew nearer ; the chief engineer had come up for a breath of air as we passed an island on which there was a revolving light which had a most weird effect as it shone first on the sea and then hurried round the cottages and houses on the island as if telling the inhabitants that it was on duty. I spoke of this to the engineer, near whom I was standing, and to my great pleasure he forthwith quoted Kipling's line, " the light which wakes the sailor's wife to prayer." He was anxious that I should go below and inspect his engines, but the idea of so many steps, up again, appalled me and I excused myself on the ground of shortness of breath ; he was very sympathetic but some ten minutes later, when I burst involuntarily into song at sight of the gracious moon, giving all the value I could to both parts of the duet, " The Moon hath raised her Lamp above," he remarked, 152 TJP THE CLYDE rather tersely 1 thought, " There isna much wrang aboot yere chest ! " I thought perhaps he was feehng a httle hurt, and tried to explain that singing was not the tax on the breath that stair-climbing would be, and he resumed his friendly smile, whereupon I took an encore for the duet and gave him quite a selec- tion of unaccompanied songs, at the conclusion of which he was kind enough to say, "That's fine." I was just about to launch into a serious recitation, having told him the title of it, when he said he must " gang awa' doon," and did so. The entrance into, and passage up, the Clyde was a succession of pictures to interest any artistic eye, the chilly dawn growing gradually lighter and dis- closing the monster shapes of the big steamers going out, the barges and ferry boats full of workmen crossing the river to the different yards, while the air was already beginning to throb with the noise of iron meeting iron, which as we slowly steamed towards our berth swelled to the full volume of its chorus of workers. This being my first journey up the Clyde brought me a great disillusionment of the mental picture I had formed of the celebrated stream, but, while much disappointed at its extreme narrowness, I was lost in admiration of the marvellous manner in which these sea-going fnonsters are warped in and out of docks and through lock-gates which look as if they could not possibly open widely enough. It seemed, for some reason which I cannot possibly 153 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON explain, a most undignified manner of arriving from a foreign country. We slid alongside an unpretentious- looking kind of quay, amid no excitement or curiosity of any sort, landed unobserved and w^ere immediately absorbed into the ordinary street traffic ; I felt that someone should have met us, and congratulated us on a safe arrival. A stroll up Buchanan Street saw us embarked in the train for Perth, a town to which I had always hoped to pay a visit, so rich is it in history and romance. After this very lengthy journey we were more than grateful for the basin of excellent Scotch broth which the intuition of our landlady had pro- vided, but, being somewhat rich, a little went a long way I found, while Plummer, more courageous, shortly after complained of "black spots and the room going round" — which in the kindness of his heart he ascribed to the steamer passage. Being here, it was the obvious thing to do, to buy and reread " The Fair Maid of Perth," and also visit her house, of which, I gathered, there is very little of the original remaining. Having also heard a legend to the effect that there was a hotel at the window of which it was possible to sit and fish for salmon (catch salmon, I beUeve it was) I looked for this also, but failed to find any trace of it, and our host at the golf club on the North Inch, Mr Robertson, whose hospitality considerably brightened the last weeks of Lent, confessed that in all his years of residence, and they were many, he had never heard of such fishing facilities. 154 MISTRESS MILNE We made the acquaintance of a most delightful old lady, a Dundee fishwife, who came twice a week to hawk her wares, and dined regularly with Mrs Milne, our cheery landlady. Mistress Macfarlane was over sixty, and without a grey hair on her head, and of truly noble proportions. These and her un- failing good humour so appealed to Plummer as to impel him to a proposal of marriage, but it appeared that she held men in very light esteem and refused, which was a pity, as she would have played Audrey to perfection, with perhaps a new reading in which Touchstone would have come off second best. One of our company secured a day's fishing and unfortunately caught some trout, which he kindly presented to us, whereupon he was invited to break- fast to help eat them ; they turned out to be rather a failure and I saw the party going breakfastless when our worthy Mistress Milne appeared with a handsome "plat" of eggs and bacon, accompanied with the remark, " I ken weel they Tay troots ! " and the balance was restored. A stroll round the North Inch, where from time immemorial the Burghers Club has golfed, and of old the races were held, was made additionally interesting by an endeavour to locate the spot where Conachar dived into the river at the conclusion of the great fight between the two rival clans so magnificently treated by Sir Walter Scott, but this again no one could point out, nor was there discoverable even a shaving of the ladder Rothesay used in mounting MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON to the Fair Maid's window. The window itself is, I was credibly informed, the only part of the original house left, and is, per se, strong evidence of the purity of Rothesay's intentions, for it is too small to admit the passage of anything larger than a diminutive cat, nor could the Fair Maid have eloped by its means. This is but another proof of the wisdom of leaving unvisited many spots around which the halo of historical romance has cast a glamour which the actuality so often rudely dispels. We had, however, a romantic experience of our own during the week, to which, imbued with the feeling engendered by the reperusal of Scott's delightful tale, I have felt irresistibly impelled to endeavour to lend an echo of the atmosphere which seems to envelop Perth and its neighbourhood, and which I venture to entitle : A Perthshire Idyll OR How Mistress Lucie Symes became a Bride ( The explanation of words marked * will be found in the Glossary) On a heavenly morning in spring, at an hour when many of the honest burghers of Perth were just awaking to the knowledge that a steaming bowl of porridge was awaiting their pleasure, the casual traveller along one of those mysterious wynds * with which their quaint old town abounds, might, were he *56 PERTHSHIRE IDYLL possessed of an observant eye, have noticed the sallying forth of a small but gay cavalcade* com- posed of four persons, whose position and occupation in life he might have been at some pains to de- termine. It was too early an hour for the gentry of the town te be astir, while few even of the thrifty mercers had appeared within their beetle-browed doorways, but a second look from the typically incurious Scotsman may have led to the muttered expression " Southrons — they'll be some of yon player folk who tramped into town yestre'en." The debonair party consisted of a jovial-looking somewhat portly man, who carried his fifty odd years with the mien * of a former athlete, and seemed to be the leader of the expedition, his companion being an alert-looking young woman, whose bright and bonny face indicated the happy and witful tempera- ment associated with the Celtic race. The two other members of the party were a young man, whose appearance and carriage were a juvenile replica of those of his elderly friend, and a buxom maiden of some ten summers, and as many winters, whose springy step and merry outlook proved her possessed of that jme de vivre * which our Gallic neighbours so keenly appreciate. Little indeed did any of the four suspect, as they fared forth in the callow morning air, what a strange happening Pandora was preparing for two of their number. With snatches of song and merry jest they left the old town far behind, and below the battle- rs? MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON ments of Kinnoul sought the banks of the smoothly- flowing river where the industrious salmon netters were to be seen hauling on the strands through which the silvery gleam of a Tay salmon, as he surrenders life and liberty, brings a feeling of regret that such things must be ere we can come to the full appreciation of the noble fish. Here for an idle hour or two the four sat basking * in the sun and watching the netting, until the pangs of hunger gave reminder of the early hour at which the morning nourishment had been consumed, and as, through a lack of foresight on the part of all, severely rebuked by the leader, Master Roland Swift, there had been no effort to provide for this emergency, it became imperative to wander forth in search of the wherewithal to recruit exhausted nature. Master Swift, with the wisdom of years, suggested a retirement to the base, where supplies are invariably kept, but with the enthusiasm of youth — or was this the moment of which Pandora took advantage — Master Glazier loudly clamoured for a forward move- ment, arguing that there must of necessity be somewhere within reach a hostelry * ready and willing to supply their modest requirements ; it being yet wanting some few minutes of noon, and the original intention having undoubtedly been the spending of the entire day away from the city, both Mistress Olive Robartes and Mistress Lucie Symes added their entreaties, and the voice of wisdom, as ordinarily, occupied a rearward position.* The resolution to go forward at any risk was iS8 PERTHSHIRE ffiYLL followed by a hasty chaffering with the stalwart fisher-folk concerning the price of a ferry to the far side of the Tay, and the matter being adjusted to the delicate satisfaction of these simple-minded men, behold the expedition safely landed at the bottom of a steep and tortuous ghyll* leading up from the banks, among trees, hedges and indigenous wild grasses, which all combined to present nature in a most attractive garb to our four pilgrims. Mistress Lucie here acted as pioneer, with that firm and even flat-footed * step so indispensable to the mountaineer, followed at the space of some three yards by Master Glazier, the rearguard being formed by Mistress Olive and Master Swift ; these precise details became noteworthy only in the light of what followed, when some two hundred yards of the ascent had been traversed in the same order, leaving the latter couple in the advantageous position of witnesses * to the importance of the occurrence. At the side of the path there lay, insidious object, the loose hoop of a barrel, complete in circumference, and of some two feet in diameter ; moved by who shall say what spirit of mischief, or fell intent. Master Glazier, having seized the hoop, dexterously flung it over the shoulders of the fair Mistress Lucie, ac- companying his action with the fateful words : " Lucie ! With this ring I thee wed 1 " Dumb* with astonishment the four stood, until the tension was relieved by the excited exclamation from Mistress Olive of "A marriage I It is a marriage, and we two are the witnesses ! " Of the con- 159 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON trading parties Master Glazier appeared the more disconcerted, Mistress Lucie, with a thrifty foresight something unusual in the circumstances, immediately asking of the witnesses : " What are you going to give us for a wedding present ? " Her anxiety being allayed with a Scots penny* on the part of Master Swift and a small and delicate mechanism for improving and cooling the visage on behalf of Mistress Olive, the journey was resumed amid a buzz of excited contemplation of the position, including the practicability of securing a divorce at equally moderate charges and at equal speed. It is notorious that an excessive use of the vocal organs increases the necessity for liquid and soHd refresh- ment, and it was therefore with no little joy to aU concerned that there loomed * in the near neighbour- hood a house of most attractive exterior. Whether hostelry or private house, it was deter- mined that there and shortly should these necessities be relieved, and a short approach through the loaning * saw the party greeted by a most hospitable house- keeper, in the absence of the master of the house, at that moment ambling into Perth on his palfrey.* The diffident request made for a glass of milk and a biscuit was met by an invitation " to come ben* the hoose" and something should be forthcoming, the something eventually proving to be an excellent cup of tea, with the welcome addition of eggs, hot scones, cakes of all kinds and delicious home-baked bread. Surely LucuUus * never partook of a better wedding breakfast than this perfect stranger, in his own i6o PERTHSHIRE HDYLL absence, offered to this unexpectedly married pair. And surely none but those under the domination of Cupid could have, in so light-hearted a manner, accepted the Unknown's hospitality. The presence of a loaded shot-gun in the feast-room suggested to Master Swift the advisability of using sufficient despatch in the meal to allow of departure before the return of its owner ; not that this indicated a want of courage on his part, or a supposition that the owner of the house was of a bloodthirsty nature, but rather as a precautionary measure against the possible return of a hungry man to a larder depleted by strangers. The wedding-feast being despatched, and vails * bestowed, the expedition set forth, cheered and re- habilitated, on its return to Perth, and here the voracious chronicler (a printer's error has crept in, I observe) is compelled to the sad reflection that contentment of the body does not invariably pro- duce contentment of the mind, this being forced upon his notice by the bickerings indulged in by the newly-wedded pair on the homeward path, on all matters pertaining to married life, the ordering of the household and, above all, on the firmly ex- pressed determination on the part of Mistress Glazier to keep control of all moneys, subject to a weekly dole * of infinitesimal dimensions to serve her spouse's private needs. There being no necessity for concealment, we may admit that the persons taking part in this little pilgrimage were indeed members of the troop of mummers * then performing in Perth, the actual L i6i MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON names being suppressed by the chronicler only in view of any possible question arising as to the validity or illegality of the marriage. Even this precaution would not have been necessary had the contracting parties been certain of their own wishes in the matter, but a regard for the truth compels the historian to reveal that the episode seemed to have created a feeling of slight irritation on the part of both, the determination to consider it a marriage seeming to depend entirely on the mood of one or the other in turn, and the fact of their never being in agreement at the same time put a certain strain on their friendship, which was naturally carefully fostered by the other members of the troupe, who found therein much cause for amusement. Marriage, it would seem, is rarely an unmixed blessing, and the fatal facility * offered by Scotland for experiments in this direction is much to be deplored. Here are two young people who were happy together as friends, quarrelled the moment they were united, and on the last occasion when met with were as happy once more as previously, being at last in agreement as to the desirabiUty of forgetting the entire occurrence. There is, however, one aspect of the affair which each would do well to bear in mind, and that is that, the circumstances being known to all the members of the troupe, it will be a costly matter should either of the two later on wish to contract a serious marriage in contradistinction to a Perthshire Idyll I * In conclusion, the narrator of this romantic 162 PERTHSHIRE ffiYLL episode would like to mention that the involuntary host, Mr Leyburn of the Grange of Elcho, was also met with and thanked for his hospitality later in the week, when he was good enough to express his delight at having been of such signal service in Cupid's cause. GLOSSARY PAGE 1 56. Wynd. A narrow passage haunted by Boreas. 157. Cavalcade. From the French " cheval," a foot traveller. 157. Mien. Signifying " nothing mean about me." 157. Joie de vivre. " All alive-oh ! " 158. Basking. A change from busking. 158. Hostelry. Non-existent. 158. Rearward position. ''Took a back seat." 159. Ghyll. No relation to Gill or Jill. 159. Flat-footed. No personal reference. 1 59. Witnesses. At times suborned. 159. Dumb. Inexplicable. 160. Scots penny. Invaluable. 160. Loomed. It did not. 160. Loaning. The path to borrow. 160. Palfrey. Anglice, bicycle. 1 60. Come ben. Everyone knows this. 160. Lucullus. Everyone doesn't. 161. Vails. A motor of satisfaction. 161. Dole. — ful. 161. Mummers. Almost extinct. 162. Fatal facility. Admirable alliteration. 162. Idyll. Something that really happened. 163 CHAPTER XIV SUNDAY BATHING — POINTS OF VIEW re HEROES — THE "STAR." IN EACH ACT — MAGNANIMITY OF PLUMMER — golfers' EXCUSES — PYJAMAS — " THE JUDGE AND THE LADY " — THE QUORN HUNT MEETING Where could we find a finer sight than the view from either side of a train as it crosses the Forth Bridge to the accompaniments of a storm of rain and hail, varied by the lurid bursts of a briUiant sunset ? Perched up at this great height the train itself seems no more than a toy and the whole of the surroundings combine to enforce the reflection that the human being is the veriest atom of Nature's scheme. Even the thought that human brains and hands have united to span this mighty firth for their own convenience, and have thus in a measure domin- ated the elements, does not altogether reinstate the sense of self-importance which is our normal attitude in face of these wonders, for it brings to the mind the awful fact that what has once happened may happen again, and it is with a distinct feeling of relief that one finds oneself safe on the southern shore and gliding peacefully into Edinburgh. What a contrast does Edinburgh present to London on a Sunday evening ; both are orderly 164 SUNDAY IN EDINBURGH enough, but there is a kind of subdued gaiety about the Scottish capital which is wholly lacking in town, which I fancy is chiefly to be accounted for by the fact that all who are abroad foregather in Princes Street, the entire length of which is packed with people, who seem to patrol it from one end to the other for at least two hours, and most of whom appear to have a nodding acquaintance with every soul who passes. The march of civilisation has also, mirabile dictu, brought with it the Sunday golf habit, though at present no great facilities are offered by the railway companies for such an unholy revel, but this will doubtless come in time. With an hour's wait before proceeding to Newcastle- on-Tyne, our destination for the following week, the obvious course is to call on some old friends for afternoon tea ; but here a certain disappointment awaited me, owing to this being a surprise visit, in the fact that, tea being over and her callers departed, my hostess had sought the seclusion of the bathroom, whither a certain sense of delicacy precluded me from following her, in spite of the dusty accumula- tion of a long journey, which seemed to suggest the advisability of so doing. She had, however, left a charming sister and brother as understudies, who ministered most kindly to our wants, and we went on our way stimulated and refreshed by the ever- welcome tea, hospitality having obliterated all feeling of envy towards the occupant of the bathroom. i6s MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON Newcastle on Bank Holiday was a vivid contrast to the quiet of Perth, and it was a great treat to be greeted on the Monday night by a house packed from floor to ceiling with an audience determined to be amused with whatever fare was provided for it. They took the hero of the play, Jack Frobisher, to their hearts at once, and the more he " rated " his wife, the Lady Alethea, for her "goings on" the more they applauded his strong though highly virtuous remon- strances, with, however, one exception, as I heard afterwards, that of a man who was asked how he liked the play and replied : " Very much indeed, but I can't stand that Frobisher fellow — he's too damn good to live ! " — a somewhat opposite view of the situation to that taken by a feminine sympathiser of Frobisher's, who thought him so much too good fbr his wife that on their reconciliation, and consequent arrangement, at the end of the play, to leave for Queensland to- gether, she remarked : " WeU, it's to be hoped she'll die on the way out ! " In several of the towns we had visited it had been suggested that " it was a great pity that Barrington did not appear in the last act " — the self-seeking old Lord Steventon not making a reappearance after being severely routed by Frobisher in one of his virtuous outbursts — the suggestion not being intended as in any way imputing a fault on the part of the author, but on the ground of the advisability, from a business point of view, of the "star" appearing in each act. Being anxious to put the matter to the test, Mr Sutro was approached, and most kindly wrote i66 A COMPLIMENT FROM SUTRO in a part for the Marquis, which certainly had the effect of considerably brightening the last act, but although there was a perceptible increase in the laughter I failed to notice a corresponding one in the receipts, and in no town which we subsequently visited did I hear of an additional row of stalls being required. These facts, however, in no way detract from the charm of the compliment paid me by Mr Sutro in rearranging the last act of his master- piece on my personal request. It may have been owing to my vanity over this concession that I met with an unpleasant and un- dignified little accident in this town ; I was going out golfing one morning, and in a, perhaps, lordly manner signalled a tram to stop, which it declined to do until some forty yards past me. I stepped off the kerb hur- riedly to go after it. The wood of the street was wet, my nailed boots flew from under me and I landed with a bang on my back, half on the kerb and half in the gutter. I rose with both body and dignity very much hurt, the former arising chiefly from having fallen on my pipe, which was broken and almost embedded in a soft part of the figure, and the shaking I got lasted for some considerable time, and fostered a distrust of nails, the golfer's safeguard. I was waited on at my rooms by a very deaf middle- aged person, who imagined that she heard quite well, and insisted on long conversations, of a most dis- connected nature, with a persistence which rather annoyed me. By way of getting some amusement out of the situation I invited some of the ladies of 167 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON the company to tea one afternoon and, without telling them of her affliction, proceeded to address her, with a smiling face, by all the opprobrious epithets of which I could think and of which the presence of ladies admitted. Their blank looks of astonishment at the first two or three efforts were a great joy to me, the Hebe's smile being as expansive as mine, and her answers for once singularly appropriate, and it was not until I asked the " darling old blithering idiot " to bring the relay of muffins, to which she replied that " there's no more eggs in the house," that they began to have a glimmering of the truth, confirmed by my final request for some particulars of her " lurid past," her answer to which was that she had " ordered one from the fishmonger but it hadn't come ! " There was one feature connected with the intro- duction of the Marquis into the last act of the play which will always give me great pleasure to remember ; it is inevitable that when one character is to be specially considered some other part must sufier, and in this case it was that of Hannaford, which was played by Lambert Plummer. The part had some excellent comedy lines, the majority of which were bodily trans- planted to that of Lord Steventon, and I confess to a feeling of uneasiness at the first rehearsal, arising from the mental suggestion of " put yourself in his place," as to how this ruthless treatment of his part might affect my friend ; it was therefore a source of great pleasure to find that neither then nor at any subsequent moment did Plummer betray the faintest sign of an- noyance or chagrin over the affair, a forbearance which i68 OVERCROWDING I venture to think as rare as it was delightful. I have known instances where artists of good standing and equal attainments have waged furious at the deletion of a line or two, not to mention a whole speech, from their part, entirely oblivious of the necessity for altera- tion as the scene shapes itself at rehearsal ; and I have seen an emotional extra-lady burst into tears at being told she could not speak a certain remark, which must be given to Miss Blank — the fact that Miss Blank was the only person who could be " on " in the scene in question proving no kind of consolation whatever. My visit to Sheffield this time was chiefly notable for a very striking illustration of the elasticity of theatrical rooms ; the house was a detached one, and by no means large, yet it served to shelter Mr and Mrs Browning, two other ladies of the company, myself and a married couple of music-hall artists of German-American extraction, who played various wind instruments by day and by night, in addition to which there was the family, which I believe numbered four in all. We were all waited on by one little Abigail of fourteen, the daughter of the house, and although the meals were punctual and tolerably well cooked it was unavoidable that much was left to be desired in other directions, and the policy of over- crowding must be at least a doubtful one to pursue. The prevailing idea on the part of landladies in houses of this type seems to be that a certain amount of attention being paid to the cleanliness and comfort of the sitting-room warrants the almost complete neglect of the bedroom department. This may pro- 169 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON ceed from a desire to inculcate the principle of early- rising, which, I am told, is somewhat lacking in " the profession," and it certainly achieved its object in my case, for I spent as little time as possible in the com- fortless sleeping-retreat placed at my disposal, but the virtue of early rising was largely discounted by the vice of late retirements, and T was not sorry when the week was over and I again became normal. I had a day's golf here with Browning and found that I was still suffering from the effects of my fall in Newcastle, my right arm being very stiff, and to this cause I naturally ascribed the severe beating I received. How is it that so few golfers are ever beaten on their merits, I wonder ; there is always some excuse to offer, and from my own personal experience the excuses are as varied as they are numerous, ranging from the man who missed a put to win the match at Felixstowe because of the noise made by the larks — to him who has had his game ruined by the barring of a certain club which he probably very seldom used. There is an old adage to the effect that an Englishman never knows when he is beaten, but that was written before golf was introduced, for there can be no mistake about five up and four to play. I do however recollect a match I lost at Cassiobury for the result of which I submit I had a valid excuse. My host and opponent said to me before starting: "You won't mind the dogs going round with us, Pooh Bah ? " — to which I unsuspectingly replied : " Certainly not I " and off we started with the pack 170 GOLFING WITH HOUNDS of four. I was not long in discovering that they had all been trained to take a polite interest in putting, and on every green they seemed to take it in turn to come between the eye and the hole at the most critical moment. I spoke very strongly to one middle-aged fox-terrier, who was the worst offender, and to my great relief he made a dignified exit homewards, but his three friends stuck bravely to the task, and it was almost worth the defeat I sustained to witness their evident delight when I handed the stakes to their victorious owner. Lord Essex. I suggested to him that the pack was worth a few strokes to him on the round, but he only remarked : " I was afraid you'd find them a nuisance, that's why I asked you first ! " I made another match for a future occasion, " dogs barred," but there seems to be great difficulty in fixing a date. On the last three nights of the week in Newcastle I gave a trial to a new sketch with which I was to open at the Tivoli on the conclusion of the tour. It was written by my old friend and Savoy colleague, Arthur Law, and wds a condensation of a three-act farce of his which had had some vogue. He called the sketch The Judge and the Lady and it proved very successful, although suffering from that tame finish which seems so difficult to avoid in these trifles. The method requisite for this sketch work is so strikingly different to that called for by the 171 MORE RUTLAND HARRINGTON ordinary stage play that the way it went spoke very highly to the powers of adaptability possessed by the artists who appeared in it and who really seemed to revel in the chance afforded for a little relaxation from High Art. Hot baths, blankets, nightcaps and pyjamas entered largely into the scheme, which also included a baby, which of course was only a dummy, no real one being of stout enough material to stand the treatment required by the jdot. Apropos pyjamas, Pauline Chase and Marie Lohr seem to have set the fashion of pyjama plays, but even they might have been jealous of the latest recruit ; Plummer, in the sketch in question, presenting a quite gorgeous spectacle; my pyjamas were hidden under a dressing gown, and I trust the day may be far distant on which circumstances may compel my appearance in this negligS, though really, with the present craze for presenting most of the feminine intimities of costume in public, and the almost total absence of the same articles in the case of certain lovely dancers, it becomes difficult to determine where realism should cease and art recommence, and a representation of the Garden of Eden, if put on the stage, would probably be severely criticised unless " altogether " true to nature. A protest against a pyjama-monopoly on the part of the ladies is offered by Charlie Hawtrey in that delightful adaptation of a witty French comedy called Inconstant George — in my humble opinion one of the cleverest specimens of writing, contrast of character, and invention that has been seen for a long 172 CHARLES HAWTREY HAWTREY AT HIS BEST time. The delicate shade of Hawtrey's night-wear is an excellent contrast to the " voyant " gown-tones of the lady who so artistically, and with no hint of suggestion, has attitudinised sinuously on the gorgeous coverlet before he makes his appearance, and the stage management of this act in particular is a remarkable instance of the skill requisite in a skater on ice of French manufacture. Where have we an author capable of inventing the humour of that situation where a man is taxed by his friend with writing love-letters to that friend's wife, and this while in the undignified position of being in bed ? And if we have such an author, have we the censor to pass it ? Hawtrey's mixture of dismay, irritation and anger at the absurd figure he feels he must cut are all admirably shadowed, and no less deUghtful, in quite another atmosphere, is the delicate restraint shown at the final curtain of the play, when, without laying a single finger on the sleeping girl he loves, he sits, at some little distance, to watch over her till the arrival of her legal guardian. The play is preceded by a very charming little one- act wordless play (so-called), entitled The Portrait. I was rather surprised at finding on the programme the name of Gordon Cleather as taking part in this, and knowing him as a delightful singer I felt regret that under the circumstances I should not be allowed to hear him, but to my great astonishment the curtain rose on my friend Cleather, representing an artist in his studio, and singing a very charming 173 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON song ! 1 looked at my programme, fancying I must have read it wrongly — but no, it said " wordless " play — ^and sure enough, when he had finished singing he was unable to speak ! — and, with an occasional burst of song, this state of things obtained until the end of the play. It struck me as so quaint that a man should be able to sing and not talk that, as far I was concerned, the little play lost much of its effect. My experience with the Leeds audiences led me to think that the same predilection for stronger fare than my entertainment provided might exist in Bradford, an idea which received strong confirmation on the Monday night, when several occupants of the gallery made a leisurely but very noisy exit, during one of my best stories, and, as 1 afterwards heard, in- quired of the manager : " What sort of tommy- rot are ye givin' us now ? " Even this did not convince the management of the desirability of a change of " opening," but the Tuesday and Wednesday proving equally depressing, I insisted on "trying" The Jii,dge and the Lady, with the pleasing result of being asked why I had not mentioned the style of it before ! It is difficult to account for the prejudice which exists in the minds of theatrical managers against the " unknown," extending to plays and players ahke ; it is of course one of the greatest difficulties which an untried author or artist has to face, and is almost insurmountable without the aid of either some fortunate chance or the golden key. In this particular instance it was merely a repeti- 174 THE QUORN HUNT MEETING tion of the old formula " well, it can't be worse," which furnished yet another proof of how much better it was, and 1 can only hope that the non-contents of the first night were beguiled into giving me a chance of reinstatement. Edward Compton was here, with a very luxurious blue motor car, and incidentally with his Comedy Company, at the other theatre, and John Hart, he and I had a pleasant day's golf at Hawksworth, Hart's hospitality to all golfers visiting Bradford being an inducement to go there as frequently as possible, and greatly adding to the attraction of a first-rate links. From Bradford to Halifax would seem to be about a twenty minutes' journey, according to both trains and trams, but to occupy a whole Sunday with such a trip would be a task beyond even the cleverest arranger of a tour, so we lengthened it to an appreci- able extent by putting in a week at Nottingham on the way, a detour which pleased me very much as I always look forward to visiting Nottingham, where I have friends who have given me many pleasant times and recollections ; also it was an agreeable preparative for a stay in a town which I have so frequently heard alluded to in a very disparaging manner, a manner which, from my own experience, I find to be totally unwarranted. The Quorn Hunt Meeting was held at Lough- borough during the week we were in Nottingham, and, as neither Plummer nor I had ever seen the course, we determined to honour the proceedings MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON with our presence and, if possible, capture some wealth from the bookmakers. We accomplished the former intention, but the latter proved (as usual) a task beyond our intelligence, not having more of this commodity than we could gather from Sporting Snippets, the tipsters of which journal — or should one say " vaticinators " ? — being of such varied opinions as to select at least four horses for each race, which made a selection difficult in the face of only three runners. We backed the favourite in the first race and to our horror saw him fall at the last fence but one, when leading fully ten lengths from the only horse that seemed to threaten danger ; by the time the rider had got him up and remounted, the other horse was well past him and was rapidly — or so it seemed, but was not — nearing the last fence, and our excitement was intense ; however, our hero caught him, they jumped the fence together and the favourite sailed home an easy winner. The horse was Captain Power's Revelstoke and was ridden by the gallant gentleman- rider, Teddie Brooks, and it was a great and popular performance. The fatigue of drawing our winnings, coupled with the strain of a fairly long walk from the station, sug- gested the advisability of a retirement to the luncheon tent, but to our dismay no such harbour of refuge was to be found and we were forced to be content with large chunks of bread and cheese, after all not a lunch to be despised, but with the usual irony of Fate, for having satisfied our cravings, and started for a stroll along the coaches and cars on the aristocratic side of 176 SNAPSHOTS the course, we received at least three invitations to most recherche luncheons, which we could not accept. I secured some excellent snapshots of the diiFerent occurrences at the meeting, which wiU serve as a souvenir of a very enjoyable day, and I cannot help a slight feeling of regret at the edict pronounced against this practice by the Jockey Club officials, for it seems a little hard that the pleasure of the many should be barred on account of the intrusive few who most undoubtedly take these pictures with the frankly avowed object of selling them to journals. On the other hand it might be a source of great annoyance to the victim should he be "snapped" cheering home a winner when he should have been cheering his leader in the House. I was myself once " shot " at Kempton when I should have been appear- ing at a charity matinee in town, and oddly enough with the very lady with whom I was to have acted, and to meet with whom, at the races, was a great surprise, she having sent me a telegram early that morning to the effect that "she did not feel well enough to play I " which was the sole reason why I absented myself from the performance. The number of artists who " promise to appear," and fail on the day, has, it seems to me, greatly increased of late, and is much to be deplored ; the inability to say " no " when asked is frequently the cause of this failure to keep faith, and should be sternly discouraged, as it falls hardly on those who do fulfil their promise and are frequently compelled, by their good nature, to supply the deficiency with an " extra turn." M 177 CHAPTER XV HALIFAX — FALSE ECONOMY — HULL Halifax at last 1 Which sounds rather like reach- ing the Promised Land, the comparison being borne out to some extent by the wearisome journey con- tingent on my arrival ; had it been Hahfax, Nova Scotia, it could not have taken much longer or been much more crowded with incident. The circumstances incidental to my arrival were hardly calculated to counteract the poor reputation of the town for comfort and elegance of which I had been a frequent oral recipient, a cold and pitUess rain in the small hours not being the best of mediums for viewing novel surroundings. Business of importance had necessitated my presence in London for a few hours on the Sunday, and the summons being quite unexpected I preferred to travel back the same night to making an unan- nounced appearance at home at a late hour and being thereby compelled to travel most of the next day with the certainty of making a " first appearance in this town " of a fatigued description. There was also an additional motive in the shape of an intermittent attack of economy, to which I am very occasionally subject, and which foolishly sug- 178 BRADSHAW'S (MIS)GUn)E gested the idea that the night journey would eliminate the otherwise obvious hotel bill. This praiseworthy resolution, like many another, proved better in theory than practice, but it was possibly my own fault in selecting a train which should have gone direct, but, in some mysterious manner, side-slipped and threw me out at York. I have, in common with many people who should know better, always prided myself on a capacity to thoroughly understand Bradshaw, indeed I have fre- quently picked up his guide for an odd five minutes of light reading, when I have devised trips which I should like to have made, but on this occasion I dis- covered later that I had overlooked a train which, for some occult reason, was given in abnormally small figures and which would not only have given me an extra hour in town but would have travelled direct and arrived at the same time as the one I carefully selected, but as this is one of the traps which Brad- shaw lays for his readers I was consoled by the thought of the pleasure it would afford him when he heard that I had fallen into it. The arrangement of train time-tables has always been a matter of wonder and admiration to me, and I have always had a great desire to meet Bradshaw and tell him what I think of some of his tricks, but when I consider the number of heads which have been put together on the compilation and production of the play in which I am now appearing — viz. The Girl in the Train — which deals with only one train, I am forced to the conclusion that more than one hand goes 179 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON to the framing of railway tables and that, ergo, Brad- shaw is a myth, and should be " and Co," a Q.E.D. which I arrive at with regret as dispelling another illusion of youth. But to my train. From London to York I slept fitfully in a much overheated compartment, being frequently aroused by sonorous choruses chanted by a team of victorious footballers on the next coach, who were returning to their northern fastnesses full of goals and beer ; at York, where I had to change and wait some fifteen minutes, I was much cheered by a cup of some hot beverage which I was informed was meant to represent coffee, which it did very feebly, and then came the deviation, from York to Leeds, which the later train would have avoided. It was during this part of the journey that I appreciated the kindness of motive in Bradshaw's trap, for, as we rushed along through wolds and on the tops of moors in a grey dawn, presaging a stormy day, the effect was one never to be forgotten, causing me to break forth into the lines at the end of this chapter, which any reader who is so minded can skip. To the artistic eye there may be discernible a slight deterioration in the style of the coaches work- ing this journey as compared with those of the main artery, and on making a final change at Leeds for Halifax this subtle distinction became still more strongly marked, the " local " train seeming to ex- press (no joke) the feeling that " if you will travel at these unearthly hours you must think yourself lucky to get there in anything I " However, about i8o ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION IN HALIFAX six o'clock I did arrive, the only passenger, with not even a friendly porter to greet me and tell me where I lived, and the rain falling in torrents. I put my- self under the guidance of a burly operative of sorts, who seemed anxious for a job, not without certain misgivings of being beguiled into some side street and robbed, which were absolutely without founda- tion, for he led me straight to the house, my troubles as I thought being ended, but I was wrong again ; ring and knock as I might I could awake no one except the decollet^e-looking landlady of the house two doors off, who inquired with much cordiality if I wanted rooms ; I presume she must be on the watch, night and day, for customers, as she betrayed no surprise at the unearthly hour of my arrival. I informed her that I had some rooms but couldn't get in, so she retired with a snort of annoyance and contempt, and I took up a position in the centre of the street (it was still raining in torrents) and yelled " Plummer ! " at the top of my voice, till I thought the police would interfere. The door was at last opened by a somnolent youth, who said he " thought he'd heard something I " and was kind enough to take me absolutely on trust and show me to the sitting-room before retiring to his broken rest. After an interlude of lager beer and bread and butter, which I annexed from a cupboard without any knowledge of their legal owner, I went ex- ploring for my bedroom, carrying in my hand a large slice wherewith to appease anything or any- i8i MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON body I might meet, and the first room I entered contained Plummer, fast asleep ; I woke him and he said he had distinctly heard me calling him but thought it was a dream, as I was not expected for hours ; not recognising his right to dream of me at all, I insisted on his eating the bread and butter, in the hope that a worse dream would follow, discovered my own room and was soon sleeping the sleep of the wearied traveller whose troubles are over, but as I dosed off I recognised that the economical tendency, which had been the origin of the scheme, had failed to materialise, as, owing to the footballers, I had first of all paid eleven shillings' excess from London to York; then the porter at York had naturally transferred my dressing-case from one first-class carriage to another on the branch line — being a first- class traveller was proof of my inability to carry it myself — ^four shillings more ; then another carried it from one station to the other at Leeds, another shilling, and by that time I had become so con- vinced of the futility of further endeavours at saving money as to resolutely "book" first class for the rest of the journey ; the extra sovereign or so thus invested in false economy would have furnished a bed and breakfast of more than moderate expanse, but I should have been robbed of an experience which I thoroughly enjoyed retrospectively. There is excellent golf at Halifax, and on the far side of the hills, among the spurs of the moor, it was very pleasant to hear the grouse calling their appreciation of a good stroke, a cheerful sound which 182 CLARICE MAYNE I heard twice in one day. This is not to be taken as a confession of bad play on my part, which would perhaps excuse a certain amount of grousing, but rather a testimony of the superexcellence of the two strokes in question. The journey out to the links on the tram is well worth the time and trouble, even to a non-golfer, on account of the magnificent views presented as the car travels higher and higher up the hills which surround the town in all directions, and it is a quaint sight to look across valleys and see other trams outlined on the sky-line and looking like crawling flies, with others coming down hills like the side of a house, holding on by their feet. Our particular car stopped carefully some half-mile from the links, but a cautiously tendered bribe of a shilling resulted in the extra distance being negotiated, at which I felt rather pleased, until informed that it was quite legal and at the option of any traveller wishing to traverse the extra bit. Miss Clarice Mayne was appearing at the Variety Theatre during the week we were there, with her talented actor accompanist, Mr Tate, singing her celebrated song, " I'm longing for Someone to Love Me," and she also made her first appearance on the links under his tuition one day when we were out there playing, braving a very heavy hailstorm with the courage and enthusiasm proper to a beginner. We passed them at the second hole, Miss Mayne having twice missed the ball entirely, and I could not resist paraphrasing her song and chanting, "I'm 183 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON longing for Someone to ' Hit ' Me ! " — a reflection on her skill which seemed not only to amuse her but also to stimulate her efforts, for she immediately hit the ball well, and very nearly myself with it. Hull was the next town we visited on the tour, and it being my third visit within the last two years or so it felt rather like coming home, a feeling intensified by the greetings awaiting me from personal friends. I also had a married niece in residence at Beverley, a visit to whom brought in its train a stroll round this wonderfully picturesque old town, where there are countless " bits " to be found which would delight an artist with a sense of colour in old walls and quaint buildings. It was while we were in Hull that the news of King Edward's serious illness became the one topic of conversation, and there was a most distinctly felt air of uneasiness and concern which seemed to affect everybody and everything, and when the terrible news came of the fatal termination of the illness, its appalling suddenness seemed to leave us absolutely breathless with consternation and grief, the dominant feeling, even with those who had never set eyes upon him, being that of the loss of one's dearest and most intimate personal friend — a striking tribute to the grand personality of the King who had so endeared himself to every single individual of his subjects as a man. The night before the dreaded news arrived we went through our work in an atmosphere of tension which was evidently shared to its full extent by the 184 THE CLOSURE audience, and the whole proceedings were so per- functory as to afford an experience which I can never forget and which I trust will never be re- peated. After the Friday night's performance we, of course, closed down and found our way home to London, a day earher than would otherwise have been the case, and thus concluded a tour which I shall always look back upon with a grateful remembrance of many happy times with very pleasant associates. I had been touring for so long that it felt quite strange on the following Monday morning not to be rushing off to some provincial city, and indeed it was some weeks before I finally realised that I had at last secured the London engagement which is the ambition of so many actors on tour; at the moment of writing this that engagement has lasted close upon nine months, and looks quite hkely to record yet another nine. The Grirl in the Train being evidently a first-class traveller, who appears to have taken out a season ticket, but with the addi- tioned privilege of being able to transfer her " season- ticket" to other representatives of the part. Miss Phyllis Dare having had four successful successors who have in turn changed at Vaudeville Junction and taken other lines ; as a matter of fact I am the only passenger who has made the complete journey with- out a stop. I conclude this chapter, as I threatened, with my attempt to describe in verse one of the episodes on my journey to Halifax, and may perhaps be allowed i8s MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON to reiterate the hint that there is no binding obliga- tion to read it. DAWN ON THE MOORS There is a wind which blows when dawn is near And all the world is Ipng calm and still ; And whatso'er may be the time of year This wind, or faint or strong, is always chill ! Just as our forces fail at ebb of tide, Which brings the weakest hour of all to man, So does the desolated countryside Appear to suffer from the self-same ban ! Come to this window here, and watch with me The soft grey dawning of this April day. And turn your eyes, the misty shapes to see Of beech and elm and larch in feathered spray. We rush and roar along in speeding train Out on the top of undulating wolds Which are a-glint with newly-fallen rain That greets us as the silv'ry dawn unfolds. What are those forms fantastic, dancing there Out on the misty moorlands' rise and fall ? Are they gay cavaliers and ladyes fair Beneath the trees they deem a pillared Hall > See how the sunrise with its first faint gleam Throws on these shapes an opalescent mist, Lends them the colours of an artist's dream Such as you find in cobweb new sun-kist ! What is the measure which they tread so fast, These slender wraiths by April dawning drest } So strenuous, they sink to earth at last. As though in yearning for their long day's rest ! i86 DAWN ON THE MOORS Smoke from the engine, say you ? Surely no ! Visions evoked by thoughts of other dawns ! See ! There is one whose graceful form I know ! Who oft has paced with me on trim-kept lawns. And look ! The Sun is tinging all the skies With promise of another heav'n-sent day Such as, alone, she gives me, when her eyes, So tender, sweet and true, are turned my way ! The Day is come ! And she — who knows it near- And knows me lonely — sees me, in her sleep — Comes with it ! For a moment, brief but clear, We are together ! Lovers' tryst to keep ! 187 CHAPTER XVI UNDERSTUDIES AND ASPIRANTS Whatever the play to be produced, musical or otherwise, we are constantly being told nowadays by the " inspired " journalist that, "Mr Manager has found great difficulty in casting certain of the parts " ; this is, on the face of it, only another way of sug- gesting that there is an alarming dearth of talent among actors and actresses, an imputation which is perhaps not entirely unwarranted — although it is my belief that there are plenty of artists of both sexes who only need the longed-for opportunity to prove their mettle. There are many seekers for these opportunities, but they do not always materiahse because of the seeking, although the simple fact of being "on the spot" has frequently had a happy result, but just as frequently the reverse. Luck enters largely into the matter; as for instance in a case which came under my personal observation quite lately : a stage aspirant had successfully stormed the magic circle and, though only just emerged from his shell, was of so precocious a nature as to be forth- with entrusted with a few — but important — lines ; in justice to him it must be admitted that he was born with certain social advantages which made for com- i88 LUCK petency in the matter of speaking the King's English and also endowed him with an accompanying dis- tinction of appearance ; he was no sooner afloat on his first small raft than he consulted me on applying for the second understudy of the principal comedy part, which he was very diffident about obtaining. I ventured a prophecy that he would get it, and moreover that, should he have the good fortune to be wanted to play it, he would come through the ordeal with credit. Within less than one month he was instructed to proceed to a large town in the provinces and take up the part, the principal comedian having been taken ill ; and his performance was so satisfactory to the management that he has remained in the company ever since. This of course is a deserving case, but here is where the luck came in : the first understudy would, in the ordinary course of events, have been sent from London, but could not be spared from his post because the comedian he understudied had been ordered to take a rest. This is of course a somewhat exceptional case and many aspirants may grow grey as understudies without such a chance. I should be the last to depreciate the value of an artistic education, either musical or dramatic, and everyone is aware of the good work done not only by public academies but also by schools formed by active or retired singers and actors ; but I invariably experience a feeling of sadness on reading those lengthy lists of names, which appear with an appalling 189 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON regularity, of students who have passed this or that test, have won gold or silver medals for this or that accomplishment, and are then scattered broadcast to assail the different professions for which they are stamped as not only eligible but proficient. As regards acting, pure and simple — by which I only mean to exclude musical plays — there cannot possibly be more than one school which the aspirant will find it advantageous to join, the school of " practice in public," and of this stamp of school there are not many to choose from ; in bygone days Sarah Thome's companies were responsible for many of the well-taught artists who are stiU among us, and to F. R. Benson undoubtedly belongs the credit of doing yeoman service to the modern stage, his Shakespearean repertoire company having, under his judicious training, been the means of discovering, modelling and perfecting the dormant talents of many of our present prominent favourites. All the odd "acting societies" which have been formed of late years must also undoubtedly work for good ; I do not intend, in using the word " odd," any reflection on their character or behaviour, but only an allusion to their number, which seems steadily on the increase, the title chosen by one of the latest formed possibly however having influenced my mind in using the adjective. They most certainly provide opportunities for producing such talent as their committees may decide to be in the possession of certain plays and players, which otherwise might languish for ages in the oblivion from which some of 190 SCHOOLS OF ACTING each should never have been dragged, and for this the playgoing pubUe should be grateful, for in spite of all the drawbacks of inconvenient times and places of production, which render the presence of the " managerial eye " a difficulty, I believe it is a fact that these performances have proved of material advantage to authors, artists, and even absentee managers. These societies are, however, hardly "schools," many of the artists belonging to them, and taking part in their performances, having already won their spurs in the acting world and accepting these fitful appearances as a means of reminding forgetful managers that there is genuine talent about, if they wUl only spare the time to look for it. Aspirants for work in musical plays have perhaps more to go through before coming into the horizon of the manager's view than their more fortunate brethren of the dramatic stage, having first of all to pass the dread ordeal of a " voice trial," nowadays rather magniloquently alluded to as " an audition " ; the word ordeal only faintly describes what is fre- quently a holocaust of ambitious victims, who stand or sit about the stage in dismal half-dozens awaiting their turn to demonstrate their fitness, or the reverse, before a judge of the sternest description and a jury composed of fellow-aspirants, robbed of most of their sympathy from the very fact of the competition. It is little wonder that voices quiver and knees tremble long before the first verse of the selected song has been interrupted with a suave "Thank you — that 191 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON will do — you shall hear from us if there is a vacancy." I have been present at many of these " auditions," and must admit that the sketch given of one of them by Pelissier and his confreres at the Apollo is so near the actual thing at some moments as to be almost equally painful. I suppose there is no actor or actress of assured position who is not constantly being implored to use his or her influence in obtaining a start for some prodigy of talent which has been discovered by, as a rule, admiring mothers or fathers, whose notions as to the requirements for a theatrical career would be laughable if not so pathetic. There is a popular superstition to the effect that " a word from you wiU do so much, Mr Actor," but my own experience teaches me that, with of course some few exceptions, that " word " is, if anything, less of an assistance than an actual drawback ; I fancy there is a lurking suspicion on the part of the high official approached that the counsel for the plaintiff has his own fish to fry, and no doubt this is frequently the case, while an additional difficulty is added to the procuring of an opening for some prot^g^ by the species of chevauac-de-frise of accre- dited agents and appointed talent seekers which surrounds every manager of distinction, and who are humanly resentful of any infringements of their privileges. The commercial element will also occasionally enter largely into the transaction ; of course entirely with- 192 LONG PROBATION out the knowledge of the manager, and against his principles as well, and I well remember a case occurring some years since when it was discovered that a chorus master had framed his recommendation of the applicants on a scale corresponding with the fee he had received ; needless to say that, on the circumstances leaking out — if I remember rightly through his strongly recommending a vocalist who had no voice whatever — he ceased to adorn that particular theatre with his presence. Even after all the outworks have been stormed, and the much-desired contract secured, there is in most cases a long and wearisome term of probation to be passed before the chance is offered, and bitter heart-burning will be aroused by the selection, for some inexplicable reason, of another aspirant for the position which on the surface belongs, of right, to the slighted one. I was once rehearsing for a musical play in which I was to appear, and the leading lady — who had a rather dramatic type of part — was for some reason prevented from attending some three or four re- hearsals; it was naturally difficult to proceed with the scenes in which she was concerned without some sort of representative, and being the early days of rehearsals, understudies had not been allotted ; how- ever, on a request from the stage manager for someone to come to his assistance and read the part, an intelligent and youthful chorister promptly proceeded to show that she not only knew most of the words and music but was capable of giving a N 193 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON more than useful rendering of the part ; the average person would reason from this that she would be given the regular understudy — which in fact she was — and that on the first opportunity she would be called upon to play it — which she was not — at least two other people being given preference over her. The same girl also came to the rescue one evening during the run of the play, when the soubrette of the cast was suddenly seized with illness just as the end of the act approached, and stepping out of the ranks took up the part and finished the act, thus saving an awkward situation. I am not at all sure that there is not a certain danger to the prospects of a career in demonstrating this species of " general utility," the above being by no means an isolated case of the kind within my own experience, and it is only too certain that such treat- ment, however unavoidable, and for whatever reason meted out, is bound to create a feeling of discourage- ment difficult of dissipation. The ideas of stage managers certainly appear to run in a kind of groove, at least as regards under- studies, any effort at originality on their part being, as a rule, sternly repressed ; this is all very well, of course, if such originality tends to make a serious difference in the scheme of the play or scene in which it is shown, but as so many of the popular favourites of the day have secured much of their popularity by certain little tricks of manner, quaint gestures and idiosyncrasies of all sorts and kinds, it naturally follows that it must prove an almost insurmountable 194 PERCEPTION handicap to the understudy to be compelled to follow so literally in the footsteps of his or her overstudy, so few of the supervisors having the power to discrimi- nate in the matter of personal temperament and thereby realise the values of a slightly different read- ing compelled by the difference in nature. This lack of perception is the means of placing many a round peg in a square hole while square pegs to fit truly lie at hand unnoticed ; if Mr Jones is short, stout and shock-headed, the ranks of the professional army are searched to provide an under- study for him with the same personal attractions, and he is secured without any consideration as to his real fitness for the part and even less as to whether the part might not perhaps be more effective if played by an artist who is tall, thin and of more sedate capillary adornments. Confusion becomes worse confounded if, in such a case, the part played by the original artist is not precisely of the style which the author would have written for him had he been aware of his going to play it, but which, by right of his position as " principal comedian," is, in a manner, forced upon him ; it is easy to understand that, given the original discrepancy between artist and role, and adding thereto the difference between artist and understudy, we fre- quently obtain a kaleidoscopic result as irritating as it is unnecessary. Looked at from every aspect there is little doubt that the position of an understudy is a not too envi- able one, and it is not to be wondered at that those who have been through the mill, and have attained I9S MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON success are as a rule full of sympathy and ready with assistance to those who are still on probation, and it is by no means one of the least pleasant incidents of stage life to recall the many occasions on which, after the fall of the final curtain, a spontaneous and hearty burst of applause has greeted the initial effort of a performer, from the hands not only of the principal artists concerned but the entire company, who have watched that effort with a sympathy and appreciation possibly enhanced by the reflection that yet another has stepped out of the ranks and set foot on the ladder of success. 196 CHAPTER XVII AUTHORS AND ALTERATIONS The would-be playwright of to-day has, it would seem, a far greater chance of securing a hearing, or at all events a reading, than was accorded to his like in past times, a fact that undoubtedly works for the benefit of the play-going public ; for where, some years ago, we could count the recognised authors almost on the fingers of one hand, not only would both hands now be wanted but even the feet- fingers might have to be requisitioned ; the latter suggestion is not, perhaps, entirely inept, as some of the so-called plays which have actually been presented to a discriminating public verdict have been sufficiently clumsily contrived as to warrant the innuendo. The " one-handed " authors, so to speak, have maintained their well-earned position, but serious rivals have sprung up in all directions, and some of the most notable successes of late years have been achieved by women writers, some of them being novelists of distinction and some entering the arena direct, thereby escaping one of the most insidious pitfalls laid for the former, that of a predisposition to redundancy which is the natural outcome of tale- writing as opposed to play-writing. 197 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON Take for instance a play by Sir Arthur Pinero (any play) which has earned its usual great success and is at length approaching the end of the run; retain the main features of the plot and reverse all the characters ; let the good long-suffering husband be- come the " pleasure-seeking-at-any-cost-to-domestic- happiness" person, in place of the wife, as in the original, and so on with the rest of the cast, possibly by this means arousing sufficient curiosity in the public mind to furnish another twelve months' run. In the important matter of royalties the position of modern authors shows great improvement, the per- centages are larger, and are paid with a regularity undreamt of in " the good old days," and therefore one successful play proves in itself a small fortune, another reason why so many plays are now exploited. An excellent story apropos this question appeared the other day in London Opinion, which, with apologies, I venture to annex ; the author was the well-known and popular musical director of Drury Lane, Jimmy Glover, who said that he once adapted a play from the French for three pounds, with promise of a further ten shillings if it were a success ; the purchaser made something like twenty thousand out of it, and, concludes Glover, " it is only fair to say that when I wrote for the extra ten shillings it was paid without a murmur " —under modern conditions there would have been at least two noughts to follow that ten. Another feature in the modern author contract is A GOOD PLAY NO GOOD that after a certain term his play, with the rights in it, returns to him, manifestly a most fair arrangement, and one which prevents the locking up of the author's property, which may occur from some totally unfor- seen cause. I myself suffered from want of knowledge of this point when surrendering, for a very modest per- centage, the entire rights of a musical play which I had adapted ; it was quite a success, has been once reproduced, with equal success, in spite of adverse circumstances, and yet is lost to me for ever unless an opportunity, totally unlooked for by me, arises for a further production by the same manager. One great difficulty with which authors have to contend is in writing a play for a certain cast or, possibly, one or two certain performers, this diffi- culty being intensified in the case of a play written for an actor-manager. I once dramatised a very well-known novel for an equally well-known man of this position, and on reading the play to him was more than pleased when he remarked, " That is one of the best plays I've heard for a long time," but my satisfaction was short lived, for he went on to say, " but — ^there are too many good parts in it for it to suit me — it is an absolute necessity that the part I play should stand out in importance above all the rest " ; naturally this line of argument did not appeal to me, but assuming him to be the best judge of his own interests I felt that discussion was useless, and the manuscript joined the others on my shelf of "waiting in hopes." 201 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON curiously unfortunate in this respect with The Girl in the Train, having had few entire weeks without a call of some sort. Speaking about this on one occasion brought me a recompense in the form of an interesting re- miniscence on the part of my old friend Colonel McCalmont, to whom I was unburdening myself of the grievance. It seems that- many years ago he played Sir Joseph Porter in Pinafore with some amateurs in Belfast, and made such a hit in the part that D'Oyly Carte gave him permission to appear in the part with the Repertoire Company whenever it found itself in the town, and he cared to do so. He told me that on several occasions he did so, and only relinquished the pleasure on finding out the dis- taste the company evinced for attending rehearsals of a play which they had been appearing in for years. As a reward for their forbearance he took advantage of his last appearance chancing to be made on the eve of the wedding of one of the ladies of the company to invite them all to dinner, and a very joyous gathering resulted, |the Dick Deadeye of the company, my old friend Billington, afterwards declaring that from the time of demolition of the lobster salad he had no further recollection of how the evening was spent, except that he did make up for the part. The colonel gave the bride away at the ceremony on the following day, and used his authority as loco parentis to soothe the anger of a christening party which insisted on a prior claim on the church and failed to appreciate the very natural impatience of the 204 STAGE-MANAGING THE BIRDS IN MY GARDEN SENSE OF HUMOUR bride and bridegroom, whose occupation necessitated an appearance the same evening in lolanthe. At one of our lengthy rehearsals at the Savoy, when the company was also playing at night, I remember we were all getting very tired, and Gilbert perhaps a little irritated at the inevitable slackness, when suddenly one of the ladies of the chorus stepped forward and said, " I want to go home." Gilbert, ready as usual, replied, " Well, we all want to go home — what's the matter ? " The lady announced that she must go, as she had been very much annoyed by one of the gentleman choristers putting his arm round her waist and calling her " a pretty dear," but she was immediately mollified, and resumed her place, on Gilbert assuring her very seriously that "he couldn't have meant it ! " Most actors are blessed with a sense of humour, which is undoubtedly fostered by the nature of their calling, and it is indeed fortunate that this should be so for the workers in a profession so full of vicissi- tudes and trials of all kinds ; the actor is almost always optimistic and that good engagement which is to bring fame and wealth is always in the immedi- ate future, even after weary months of waiting, and as a rule he bears his reverses with a jauntiness born of the brave heart he carries. The much-discussed question of "Sketches" must frequently bring an anxious thought to the minds of many to whom " the Halls " have been a boon not fully appreciated perhaps by those in regular work. Surely there is room for all: the sketch players do not oust the 205 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON single-turn artists, and many a manager has dis- covered in a sketch the very person he has been vainly seeking to fill some position in a forthcoming production ; neither managers nor actors can spend all their time on the steps of the agent's office, and a short visit to a music hall may often result in profit as well as amusement. That there should be a time limit is, I think, reasonable, both in fairness to the regular theatres and in defence of the single-turn artist, who might be in danger of being crowded out, though this danger, owing to the cosmopolitan taste of music- hall audiences is reduced to a minimum. The sense of humour is naturally not always in evidence, a proof of which was furnished to me the other day in the telling of a story by Huntley Wright to myself and another actor, who shall be nameless. Two brother play-actors had foregathered in a hotel bar in Manchester and one remarked, "Dear old chap — haven't seen you for years — where are you now ? " " Oh, I'm out with Wicked Women and this week, dear boy, we're regularly *ofF the map,' a place called ' Ince ' — sort of suburb of Wigan — but next week, thank goodness ! we get back to civilisation." "Oh — where are you next week?" "'Delf,' old boy." "Ah I" Both Wright and myself thoroughly enjoyed this, but the third never even smiled and then said : " I never heard of either of those places. " I heard from the same source two stories con- cerning theatrical landladies which strongly appealed 3o6 HUNTLEY WRIGHT'S CHRISTMAS DINNER to me, having lately had an experience of some of the weird specimens of this product ; needless to say that both the ladies were provincial and of quite an ordinary type. The first related to Christmas Day. Huntley Wright having, of course, a night off, and wishing to take advantage of it by giving a little dinner and card party, had done all his shopping and rang for his landlady after breakfast, to give final instructions. She appeared, with red eyes, a most woebegone ex- pression, and clad in deep mourning which had seen much wear ; having taken his courage in both hands he started on his instructions, to be met at once with the statement : " You can't 'ave no dinner in this 'ouse to-day." Fearing some terrible bereavement, the would-be host inquired the reason. " Well, sir," was the reply, " you see this is 'ow it is. I lost my dear 'usband on Chrismiss Day ten years ago." "Ten years!" shouted Wright. "Well, but " " Wait a moment," sniffed the mourner — " every year since then I've took a day's 'oliday — which I spends sittin on 'is tombstoneV There was no dinner. The other case was that of a very sympathetic old Lancashire landlady, and the occasion was the catch- ing of a chill which necessitated lying in bed for a day or so ; she was one of that type of women who has inevitably suflfered from the same complaint as the patient to whom she may be talking, but always in a much more virulent form, or, if that course appears inconvenient, has had a friend or relation who was " never free from it." 207 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON On this occasion the patient was suffering, as I said before, from a chill on the liver, and it is a very odd thing about this type of lady that although she will discuss, with appalling frankness, the state of her internal mechanism there is one exception she makes, and that is the liver, no lady being supposed to possess such a thing; it was therefore her husband who was used in the following species of monologue : — " Chill on the liver ? — ah — and well I remember my 'usband with it — 'e 'ad jest your 'igh colour — couldn't fancy anything but a little rum and milk — I suppose you No ? — ah, you've gone past it — jest like 'e did, poor fellow — an' that's jest 'ow 'e used to swear at me too — lor' — you are like 'im — died in that very bed 'e did, where you're a-lyin' " Hasty exit to avoid a carefully aimed golf-boot. Whatever their faults, however, they are a kind- hearted race, and prone to great disappointment if the appetite of their tenant proves unequal to the lavish supply they make when left to their own devices, although in some cases there is this method in their madness : that much will be " left over " which will never be asked for again. That this is not always so was proved to me by my landlady once in Man- chester, when I was dining out on the Sunday ; just as I was getting into the cab she waddled up and thrust a very sticky parcel into my hand with the remark : " In case they don't give ye enough ! " The packet contained some half-dozen sandwiches, and a cake of home-made toffee which was rapidly melting all over the bread. 3o8 CHAPTER XVIII The shortsighted policy of looking too far ahead has often, in theatrical matters at least, brought in its train a series of complications, not to say disasters, which might have been avoided by adopting the more obvious one of leaving well alone, the great difficulty being of course to decide when it is " well," this difficulty being increased by the extraordinary unanimity of the diametrically opposite opinions offered by "those who should know," on each and every play that has ever been submitted to the public. The divergence of individual opinions on a play is really something marvellous ; you will find two clubmen discussing, let us say, The Quaker Girl and The Arcadians. A will tell you that the former is " absolutely the biggest rot I ever saw," and the latter — " the only thing worth going to just now " ; while B will give an identical opinion but transpose the plays. It is to be presumed that both are equally sincere in their pronouncements, but it is an interesting problem to solve as to which of them is correct in his summing up, especially when we con- sider that, it being after all a matter of personal opinions, both may be right, o 209 MORE RUTLAND HARRINGTON An odd point about these much-discussed plays — I refer to plays generally, and not in particular to the two I have chosen for purposes of illustration — is that, in spite of a strongly worded contempt for the entertainment, you will find at certain theatres the expressors of these criticisms in constant evidence, and certainly not voicing any dissatisfaction with the fare provided. Of course in some cases this may be accounted for by the lure of the personal friend on the working side of the footlights, but when that attraction does not exist the motive for supporting a decried entertainment is difficult of comprehen- sion. A periodical statement is made in all journals dealing with theatrical matters to the effect that in musical plays "there is a strongly developing taste on the part of the public for those which present a continuity of plot and action with more than a soup f on of serious interest." This statement has, within my recollection, cropped up with studied regularity whenever there has seemed to be a dearth of the "go-as-you-please" form of play, but that there is more than a modicum of truth in the im- plication is, to my mind, amply demonstrated by the success of plays of The Chocolate Soldiei' type. Here we have a piece which, in regard to the differ- ent parts, is more fairly balanced than is the case with the one in which two, or perhaps three, artists are overloaded with material, producing the inevit- able shrinkage in the work allotted to other members of the cast, who, given the opportunity, are usually 210 COMIC (?) INTERPOLATIONS equally as competent to shine as their more favoured ( ? ) brethren. The leading soprano, by the exigencies of the plot, carries the larger burden of this work, but even then the proportions are better maintained than usual, with the result of an effective ensemble which, in giving each their opportunity, constitutes an en- tertainment much more acceptable to the general public. Also, in this kind of play there is no pos- sibility allowed to the artist known to the present- day playgoer as " an irresponsible comedian " to em- broider his part with words or business absolutely foreign to the matter in hand, and this I believe to be a very great factor in the success of this stamp of play. The really intelligent comedian should surely be capable of importing his personal humour into each and every part he plays without stepping out of the environment of the piece, but it is very rarely the case to find this done, and perhaps the excuse may be urged that a laxity in this matter is met with more approval from the majority of the play- goers than is signified by the minority, who appreciate the more artistic abstention from such methods. It is difficult to call to mind any musical play wherein the comic men and women have not, at some period of the evening, induced a feeling of regret (not to use a stronger word) at some totally un- necessary interpolation which has severely marred what was otherwise an excellent, and possibly even artistic, performance. Of course, in many cases, these regrettable interpolations are less the fault of the 211 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON artists making them than that of the manager who introduces them, equally of course with the best possible motive — namely, that of (in his opinion) brightening up the piece. That this method is not invariably attended with the happiest results is con- clusively proved, in my humble opinion, in the case of The Girl in the Train. Here we have what was, at the start, a straightforward play, with a plot which was developed in a pleasant and interesting manner, and, without unduly fatiguing the attention, adhered to in the second act, and brought to the inevitable happy conclusion with what one might describe as a praiseworthy consecutiveness which, from its very rarity, seemed to be worth preserving, not only to those concerned in the work, but also to the playgoer with a preference for this type of piece. But what happens ? The powers that be come to the conclusion, for reasons naturally not divulged, but presumably not entirely disconnected with the box-office returns, that the introduction of some new feature is impera- tive to give the play the fillip which seems advisable. The return to England, after some years' absence, of so popular a public favourite as Miss Connie Ediss apparently synchronised with the object in view, and she was persuaded to take the seat in the train vacated by the former " confidential maid " to the heroine, Mrs Van Buren ; everyone knows, admires, and loves (and speaks of her as) Connie Ediss, and in suitable sur- roundings her humour and breadth of style have again and again proved invaluable, but in this particular instance a strong note of incongruity was struck by 212 MR F. C. WHITNEY the confidential Dutch servant of a Dutch mistress living in Holland breaking out into a song dealing with famous London and Brighton hotels, and with the refrain of "When I was in the Chorus at the Gaiety." A sympathetic little scene between the mistress and maid was eliminated entirely, to the disadvantage of the plot, and those of us who had to deal with the story were distinctly conscious of an effort being required to reunite the broken thread. That the song in question was an undoubted success is an incontrovertible fact, and, in its proper environment, would have made the success of any act in which it fell, but it did not certainly belong to this play, and, as I have tried to show, caused a break in the interest which proved exceedingly difficult to bridge. It was just about this time that I was " approached " on behalf of Mr Whitney, who was gratifyingly anxious to secure me for his production of Baron Trenck, and as I imagined I saw symptoms of the train approaching a terminus I consulted the Super- intendent of the Traffic, who very kindly consented to my stepping off when the train slowed down for Holy Week. However, Fate stepped in once more, and a very severe attack of bronchitis necessitated my removal to a nursing-home some ten days earlier, and although I was anxious to reappear for a few nights, at least, on recovering, George Edwardes thought it inadvisable to make any further change, in which he was doubtless correct, but I felt some 213 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON natural disappointment at having played my part for the last time without being aware of it. I was thus free to commence rehearsals of Baron Trenck, this being my first engagement with a manager owing allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. Mr Whitney is the fortunate possessor of a person- ality so genial as to make him a persona grata with all who come in contact with him, and with this trait he combines an optimism which is positively exhilarating, and although the first-night reception of Baron Trenck was not altogether favourable, even though enthusiastic at moments, it entirely failed to shake his faith in the ultimate success of the opera, a faith which I admit I share, for where there is so much to enjoy and admire it only needs the elimination of the dull portions, and the general " puUing-together " which, at the time of writing this, the opera is undergoing, to establish its success, and, incidentally, dissipate the reputation for ill luck which in some odd way the theatre has acquired. An initial error was made in describing it as a "comic opera," which it certainly is not, the term which would have fitted it more nearly being, in my estimation, " light opera," which is a distinction with a great difference, the predominance given by the author to the love interest completely overshadowing the "comic relief." This combination arises, as I gathered from the original adaptor of the German book, from two causes, firstly, the attraction possessed by these lengthy duets in dramatic style for the German audiences, and secondly to the uproarious 214 " HUSTLING " mirth aroused in the same audiences by humour which, to the differently constituted English mind, appears to be not only feeble to a degree but of so hoary an antiquity as to be unworthy of disinterment. Whether the faith I have alluded to is to be justified or not, remains to be seen, but the come- dians entrusted with the lighter side of the work have plenty of straw to hand for the making of their proverbial bricks, the first act being most fortuitously laid in a farmyard, the cheerful aspect of which is somewhat discounted by an overwhelming tree of a totally unknown type, presumably of Slavonian origin, but not, it is fervently to be hoped, the Slavonian Upas. The American method of rehearsing naturally interested me much, as a novel experience, the play having an American " producer," who was described to me as a " hustler " of pronounced ability, and in whom Mr Whitney had every confidence ; I found him a genial, capable man, with a very keen sense of humour, which stood him in good stead in dealing with our insular idiosyncrasies, but the marvellous smoothness of the Savoy rehearsals of the olden days, conducted entirely by Gilbert, have perhaps made me slightly hypercritical on the subject of time- wasting, a feeling which has not been wholly eradicated by the many subsequent years of trial in connection with musical comedies, so many scenes in which are absolutely and literally written at rehearsal, but with regard to this production there was only one serious cause of delay, arising from the " producer's " 215 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON conception of one of the two most prominent characters differing in a most marked manner from that of Mr Whitney, who, being unable to attend the earlier rehearsals, found himself in the position of having to "undo and remake" — at a very considerable expenditure of time and patience on the part of all concerned ; the only drawback to this houleversement of a reading of character is the appearance, at odd moments, of certain remnants of the earlier teaching, thereby producing a complexity of character not perhaps intended by the author. The success of an opera or musical comedy, but more especially the former, must of necessity depend on the clearness with which the plot or story (if any exist) reaches the intelligence of the audience, and the fact should never be lost sight of that the audience has assembled to be amused and will almost involuntarily resent a strain upon its attention sufficient to warrant the query "What is it aU about ? " If this fact were more generally recognised, authors would grasp the inadvisability of telling such plot or story in the form of lyrics, instead of a few concise speeches which would furnish all the needful explana- tion, while the lyrics could be left to the tender mercies of the artists dealing with them. To tell the story in lyrics necessitates not only a Gilbert to write them, but artists possessed of an enunciation in the delivery which is unfortunately very rare, I was about to write " nowadays," but on retrospection I have come to the conclusion that 216 HARSH (?) CRITICISM singers of the present day are at least no worse than their forerunners, and some of them even better, but the chief offenders in this matter of indistinct delivery are undoubtedly those who attach undue importance to "voice production," and the blame for this, I fancy, rests less on their shoulders than on those of their instructors, who probably adopt what is known as " the Italian method." I have before now alluded to the difficulty, within my own experience, of writing singable lyrics to music already composed, a difficulty largely increased in the case of rendering into English, lyrics which have been set by a foreign composer in a foreign tongue, but the difficulty is by no means insurmount- able, though it calls imperatively for two qualifications in the attack — namely, a knowledge of music and a keen perception in the matter of emphasis. One journal, in deahng with the production of Saron Trench, made use of the headline, " Volupiik Opera at the Whitney Theatre," which was perhaps a slight overstrain in the effiart to display originality on the part of the critic of the paper in question, but, while deprecating the wilful exaggeration of the term, it is perhaps, from another point of view, entitled to some commendation, as indicating a tendency on the part of, at least, one of a highly influential body of men to write of things as he finds them, a proceeding which is less honoured in the breach than the observance, and also one which offers the delightful possibility of his being able to refer, on a second visit to the play, to the improve- 217 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON ment consequent upon the attention paid to his reprimand. Mr Desmond Coke writes an interesting article on the subject of critics, in The Daily Mail, in which he compares the American and English critic, rather to the advantage of the former, whom he describes as "fearless," but he undoubtedly weakens his case in saying that " it is surely more exhilarating than the usual" to read such criticisms as that deUvered by a Chicago journal on Miss Blank's voice, which he compares to that of " a rheumatic corncrake," but he re-establishes it perhaps at the close of the article where he proffers the following advice to the critic : — ''As complement to tactful praise must go some truthful blame." To which I will venture to add a line of my own : " A combination only found in him who plays the game." 3l8 CHAPTER XIX GERMAN INVASION — " THE GIRL IN THE TRAIN " — WALTZES — FOREIGN COMPETITION On my return to town I combined for a short time the pleasure of playing nightly at the Tivoli with the stress of rehearsals for the anglicised version of Die Geschiedene Frau, and within a week or so I real- ised that the long-threatened German invasion was an accomplished fact. The presence of Victor Leon, the author, Leo Fall, the composer, their interpreters, agents and personal suites, and later on Herr Kapellmeister Stier who was to be the conductor, imparted quite an international character to the proceedings, and, largely owing to their inability to speak English and ours to speak German, led to complications which occasionally had their amusing side, but which of necessity made for an appalling waste of time in rel^earsing numbers and effects which were destined to ultimate elimination. The Czar of all the Russias is scarcely more autocratic than is George Edwardes in the matter of the plays he produces, but, however much one may deprecate the omission of some pet bit of music or scene, the result is almost invariably a confirmation of his judgment, and whatever may have been ex- 219 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON cised is rarely reintroduced though frequently supplemented with something new ; as, however, the necessity for these, often radical, alterations can only be discovered at rehearsal, it follows naturally that a considerable amount of time is cut to waste in rehearsing material eventually to be pronounced unsuitable, thus producing a weariness of the flesh in the poor artist who only appears in the second act and may attend for a week without even speaking. The fact of no one being put forward as the author of the English version of the play considerably added to the atmosphere of doubt as to whom one should apply for advice on certain points or instruc- tion as to method of procedure, and even when, eventually, a well-known author made a short series of appearances, of a somewhat tentative description, the presence of George Edwardes at the same time induced a certain hesitation in saddling his shoulders with the burden of guilt. I look upon the piece as a kind of reversion to the old style of entertainment of a comedy with music, or, to give it its condensed title, a vaudeville ; the first act, with its very occasional numbers, certainly bears out my argument, which would be sustained in Act II. but for one number which differs from the rest as not being evolved entirely out of "the situation." While there are many who find great pleasure in this form of piece there are undoubtedly just as many who prefer the irresponsibilities of musical comedy, and it has amused me to find opinions so much at variance as to, on one hand. A LONG JOURNEY FOR NOTHING condemn the second act for a faulty elucidation of the story, and on the other to recommend an entire abstention from the first ! The manager ' who has the savoir faire so to manipulate his entertainment as to retain the patronage of a clientele of such diverse requirements is evidently possessed of an insight little less than miraculous. The strong resemblance of the first act to Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury was undoubtedly the cause of my being engaged for the part of the President of the Divorce Court, and on my first interview with George Edwardes he only considered it necessary to read me that act to give me sufficient inducement to play the part — the fact that at this time the second act was not written, or rather adapted, not affiscting the matter — in which supposi- tion he was quite correct. I travelled up from HuU, where we were finishing the tour of The Walls of Jericho, to attend my first musical rehearsal, and was rather surprised to find that the Judge's music was inclined to be conspicuous by its absence, in fact I travelled all those miles and back again to rehearse one concerted number, my share of which was limited to certain inteijections such as " Who did ? " " Who was ? " etc., and even these were spoken, and not sung — but I mention this in no spirit of complaint, it being one of those little trials which are almost unavoidable during the early rehearsals of a new piece. Huntley Wright had meanwhile been hard at 321 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON work learning the music of the part of Van Tromp, the father of the heroine, and it was not until my reappearance at rehearsal a week later that I was met with the proposition to exchange parts with him, considerably to my disappointment. Although there can be no question, I hope, that the President of the Court would have been as safe in my hands as in his, I can readily enter into the desire of a comedian to shine in two acts in preference to one, and I was able to appreciate the humour of the solution of the change as oiFered to me — namely, that the author required a younger man in the part, this reason being I fancy ascribable to a faulty trans- lation of some wish expressed in German, as the two are alluded to in the play as contemporaries. There was a duet for the two men in Act II. which threatened to partake of the character of a topical number, but on consideration it was thought wiser to avoid such a procedure, for the main reason that while it is comparatively easy for a solo singer to write and sing verses practically on a moment's notice, it is manifestly unfair to expect the same readiness of his partner in a duet. In the endeavour to get away if possible from the beaten track I had George Edwardes' permission to approach the composer with any idea that might occur to me, which I did, but the difficulties proved absol- utely insurmountable. Having evolved the idea of " Memories," I inter- viewed author, composer, interpreter and suite, also making a gallant if inefifectual attempt to present my HUNTLEY WRIGHT "MEMORIES" wishes in their own vernacular, and was received with a consideration and urbanity perfectly charming, but, owing to the departure of the composer for his native land, the time only allowed him to write an air before receiving the lyric, an inversion of the recognised method of procedure, and attended, in this instance, with the unsatisfactory result of a tune more resemb- ling in character the Dead March than anything else, and therefore not affording the requisite inspiration for the verses. I was more fortunate in dealing with a song for Evett, written also by Herr Fall at the last moment, and which lent itself very easily to treatment as a love lyric, the mode of progression being chosen as being shorter than the alternative, which was, firstly to write a lyric, secondly have it translated into German, thirdly composed, and fourthly retranslated into English ; but after all this song has not been used, up to the present. No one who has not tried it can have any concep- tion of the difficulty of setting words to music already written ; to maintain the sense is of course easy enough, but to give grace to the metre and rhyme is a difficult task. In the days of old adaptations of French light operas, such as Olivette, Mascotte and the like, the principle of keeping the sense only was followed, with the result that some of the so-called lyrics are appal- ling in their baldness, but people have grown more exigeant with time, and it is not unusual nowadays to find a supposedly brainless patron of the stalls 223 MORE RUTLAND HARRINGTON oiFering the criticism : " I like the tune, but the words are rotten ! " thereby displaying a more delicate sense of art than grammar. Everyone is aware that to criticise in any way a case which is sub judice is a grave breach of etiquette, if not something worse, and, as the run of a play may be taken as placing it in the position of sub judice I do not propose to analyse its chances of a lengthy run ; the first-night criticism is of a different nature, in that the merits of the play, per se, are set forth much as a merchant, who must announce certain goods for sale, brings them to the notice of his patrons. That the initial success of The Girl in the Train was very marked is an undeniable fact, and only the future can decide whether the customary procedure of dropping in new numbers and scenes will prove as acceptable in a vaudeville as in that frankly confessed hotch-potch known as a musical comedy. This method most certainly did not obtain in the cases of the light operas to which I have alluded, their popularity and duration of attraction being entirely maintained by the work as originally presented. I am not aware who was the originator of this scheme of " second editions," but it can hardly have been the author, who is in some cases called upon for sufficient material to supply the nucleus of at least two pieces, although, presumably, at a commensurate increase in fees. It is a somewhat sorrowful reflection that our chief London manager should be compelled to seek suc- cesses in the foreign manufactories, but the fact 224 THE WALTZ remains that The Merry Widow, The Dollar Princess, The Girl in the Train and, if report speaks truly. The Count of Luocembourg have done more than anything else to remove the stigma which has hitherto attached to everything " made in Germany." I have heard the explanation put forward that the Germans have very carefully studied our modus operandi in light opera, extracted therefrom all the best points and applied them to their own scheme (with the additional advantage they seem to possess of plot-finders) for years past, with the happy results exemplified in the pieces I have mentioned ; but there is more in it than this, and I fear it is an incontrovert- ible fact that they are ahead of us in the matter of abundance of composers. Still, waltzes are not the be-all and end-all of music, though there is no denying their attractiveness, as there is equally no denying the German pre-eminence of composition, as far as they are concerned — if, indeed, one might not almost say, in connection with musical plays, only as far as they are concerned — and a piece in which the numbers consist of a succession of waltzes is apt to become a trifle boring, all of which fosters the hope that, under more fortuitous circumstances, our native composers may once again dominate the market and introduce a few bars' rest into the seemingly in- terminable melodious jingle of English gold trickling into foreign pockets in the shape of fees. The more fortuitous circumstances are to be found, I would venture to suggest, in some new author, or authors, who would supply pieces of the type of The P 225 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON Arcadians or, to go back a little, The White Chrys- anthemum, plays which interest the mind without fatiguing it, as well as please the eye and ear, and with these pieces forthcoming, composers like Leslie Stuart, Howard Talbot and some two or three more would be found equal to the occasion. The duet "Memories," to which I have already referred, although a fairly pronounced success on the first night, did not altogether satisfy George Edwardes' ideas of what was wanted, not perhaps entirely for the situation but also for the general brightness of the play, it being, as its name implies, more a medium for artistic and subdued effects and not containing the elements of bustle and movement which he considered desirable. After some ten weeks, therefore, and as the result of much cogitation on the part of Huntley Wright and myself, I wrote an entirely new number, which dealt with dancing " ancient and modern," with dialogue between the verses ; the assistance of Doctor Hugo Felix was secured and the happy result arrived at of a duet which satisfied the powers that be and certainly appears to appeal more strongly to our audiences than did the former and more reposeful one. I have not seen this number, and possibly may never do so, but I have a slight feeling of regret at the loss of its predecessor, together with the hope that I may not be alone in my point of view. The number of nails which the coffin of "the artistic" seems capable of receiving without being entirely destroyed is truly marvellous, but, on the other hand, it is a very difficult matter to decide to what extent the 226 AS LUCAS VAN TROMP IN "THE GIRL IN THE TRAIN' HORSEPLAY standard of art may be frayed without becoming torn out of all semblance. In this connection it is somewhat instructive to read a criticism in Munsey's Magazine, wherein the writer attacks our actors and audiences as follows : — " Apropos of the foolery that seems to elicit mirth in an English theatre, the musical comedy just now prevalent in London furnishes striking examples. It is as if the usually staid Britisher, once he makes up his mind to go to the play for amusement's sake, leaves all his ordinary standards of common-sense outside the theatre, and is prepared to laugh at any and every sort of nonsense that the comedians may please to offer him." This rather sweeping condemnation is probably to some extent deserved, but is quaUfied in the same article by an allusion to The Girl in the Train as follows : — " Its success was instantaneous, and this time on sheer merit of piece and presentation alone, for there is practically no interpolated horseplay." This seems to indicate that, given the material, we can and do maintain our standard of art, so that it all comes back to the difficulty of finding the material, of which no American importation, as far as my memory serves me, has proved exceptionally remarkable for durability or artistry of texture. Although the word " horseplay " is somewhat in- applicable to the situation, the difference between the two duets I have written for Huntley Wright and myself is almost sufficiently strongly marked to warrant its use, and it has proved no small consolation to me to have met many who preferred the more P2 227 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON quiet humour of "Memories," both in words and business, to the necessarily extravagant burlesque of The Merry Widow waltz, but, as there is no room for doubt as to the latter effort meeting with a far larger meed of applause and laughter than the former, there is presumably an end to all argument as to which is the better. The pathetic little song which Clara Evelyn sang at the piano, and of which I was also the guilty author, shared the same fate as the first duet, and was re- placed by an effort at mingling humour with pathos (also mine) of which I felt by no means proud, but which invariably secures an encore — yet another proof of the sagacity of George Edwardes in the knowledge of " what the public wants," but this desirable result was not achieved until after a second song of a senti- mental character, with a waltz refrain, had been given a fair trial. I cannot help thinking that there are indications that the waltz numbers, of which at the present time there would seem to be somewhat of a plethora, are gradually losing their undoubted attraction in con- sequence of the over-supply. The rise of the waltz, especially the Fall waltz — in which remark there seems to lurk a musical joke — has been most remarkable, but the English is hardly such a waltz-loving nature as is the German, and there are not wanting signs of a desire to hear love and passion sung of in a different metre, possibly a less sensuous one. Owing to the success of our " dancing " duet, the 228 MANY PASSENGERS quartet which followed it was somewhat discounted and the places of the two numbers were changed in consequence ; this reminded me of one of my olden- time topical songs, which proved so " popular " as to upset most that succeeded it, and George Edwardes asked me if I would mind it coming almost at the end of the play ; I suggested that I should sing it after the final curtain, but the idea did not appeal to him, and it was left undisturbed. In spite of many vicissitudes, in the form of absence from the cast of many of the principals, either from illness or other causes, we have already celebrated our two hundred and fiftieth performance and the running gear seems to work as if wound up for an indefinite time. Owing to the absence of Clara Evelyn, through illness, we had a very strenuous day on one particu- lar Wednesday. There were certain alterations to go in, which had been rehearsed, and there was a " call " for the new lady, which occupied us until the time the doors opened for the matinee, and the performance which followed was rather an ordeal, most of us spending our time in the wings in a state of uncertainty as to the new positions of certain scenes and songs, which, added to the nervous feeling of a new artist in one of the parts, eventually pro- voked a sensation of great satisfaction that all had gone off with no serious contretemps. At different times I have played with four Presi- dents, four Gonda Van der Loos, three Karl Van Burens and two Mrs Van Burens, not to speak of 229 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON the minor parts, and I hold the enviable record of being the only member of the cast who has played at every performance, but even these drastic changes do not seem to have injured the vitality of the play. Being a trifle envious of Huntley Wright's second- act costume of knee breeches I requested permission to array myself in ordinary evening dress, so as to secure some sort of distinctiveness ; this was readily accorded to me, and proved so effective that the other men were very shortly clothed in the same manner, which leaves me where I was, and necessi- tates further thought. The costume in which one appears has, I fancy, very much more to do with the success with which one meets, both from an acting and personal point of view, than is generally recognised, and influences to an appreciable extent the pleasure with which we watch our favourite performers. For instance, the late Henry NeviUe, who did a large amount of fine work in his time, was essenti- ally a " costume actor " ; his Charles Surface was a long way the best within my recollection and was even an outstanding feature of a cast which included the late WilUam Farren, a splendid Sir Peter, and John Clayton, equally good as Joseph Surface, but hamper NeviUe with modern dress and you destroyed a large part of his delightful distinction ; with the costume went the gallant bearing belonging to it. To come to more modern examples, everyone knows and appreciates the charm of Charles Hawtrey in present-day clothing, and I would venture to assert 330 COSTUME that many of those who saw him in The Noble Spaniard felt a lack of something, the nature of which they were possibly unable to define, the fact being that it was " dear old Charlie," but hampered by a peculiar rig. Then again, my young friend Harry Irving, whose portrait in neglige lends a characteristic thoughtful attention to the page he faces — as Hawtrey studi- ously regards his — is another case in point. The first occasion on which I saw him play was in The House Opposite, and in which he gave a masterly and refreshing rendition of a difficult part, in modern dress, and, having some curiosity to see whether costume was, to him, an aid or the reverse, I welcomed the opportunity of seeing him in Princess Clementine, when I found that, with the exception of some beautifully delivered love speeches, which would certainly have seemed incongruous if associ- ated with frock-coat and trousers, he afforded me less pleasure than in the other play. Costume again. Wyndham is undoubtedly one of the few men to whom no kind of costume comes amiss ; Davy G-arrick or The Candidate — as wide apart as the poles — make no shade of difference to his perform- ance, or the pleasure with which we witness it, the manner of each being assumed with the dress of each, a fortuitous talent to possess. These examples could of course be multiplied ad infinitum, but are perhaps sufficient to support my theory of the influence exerted on the actor by "costume." 231 MORE RUTLAND BARRINGTON The art of pitching the voice to suit the size of the theatre in which one is playing is only to be acquired by experience, by which I mean that it is only the experienced artist who can tell at once, in a strange theatre, what power of voice is necessary. Some have occasionally sent someone to the back of the gallery to report on the subject, not always with happy results, as I remember in the case of a lady at Daly's who had one line in the first act which ran, " Can anyone lend me a cow ? " (It was a farmyard scene.) She sent her maid to listen, and on her return was told : " Yes, miss ; I heard every word. You said : ' Can anyone lend me a, pound ? ' " The stage-hands are noted as a rule for a certain dry humour, of which the following is a fairly good example. There was a musical comedy billed at a theatre being run by a species of mushroom manage- ment, and the announcements ran : " Book by Sir A. B. Lyrics by Sir C. D. Music composed by Sir E. F." Two of the men were reading it out and one remarked : " Bill, we're gettin' aristocratic, ain't us ? Three knights!" To which Bill replied: "Yus; that's about wot I give it ! " A book must have an ending, however much one may want to say more, but there is an always present danger of proving wearisome whatever the entertain- ment provided, a striking illustration of which was furnished me the other evening. I arrived at the Vaudeville for work at my usual time, and as I dis- charged my taxi it was engaged by a disappointed- looking gentleman of a kind of provincial exterior 232 H. B. IRVING EXIT appearance, who had come out of the house as I drove up. He looked at me sternly as he saw me enter the theatre and said loudly to the driver: " Empire ! Quick ! 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