Familiar Songs - Their Authors & Histories

300 traditional songs, inc sheet music with full piano accompaniment & lyrics.

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	252	OUR FAMILIAR SONGS.
	Thomas Cooke, invariably spoken of by his contemporaries as Tom Cooke, the com­poser of the music, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1781. He had an exceedingly versatile musical geuius, and had mastered almost every known instrument before he became singer, musical director, leader, and composer at Drury Lane Theatre, London, which post he held for years. He had neither a powerful nor a very sweet voice; but judicious man­agement of it made him a favorite singer, and in social life, his pleasant ways and ready wit won him many friends. He died in 1848. " Love's Ritornella" became very popular by being sung in New York by James W. Wallaok,in a play called "The Brigand."