Familiar Songs - Their Authors & Histories

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

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262
OUR FAMILIAR SONGS.
TOO LATE I STAYED.
William Robert Spencer, author of the following song, was born in 1770. He was the grandson of two dukes, the cherished light of an elegant circle, and the warm friend of Thomas Moore, who addressed an enthusiastic poem to him from Niagara Falls. As a test of memory, for a wager, Spencer once learned the whole contents of a newspaper by-rote, and repeated them without the omission of a single word. He held the office of Commissioner of Stamps; but at last died in great poverty in Paris, in 1834. The old Irish melody which forms the basis of his favorite song, was entitled " The Slender Coat."