Familiar Songs - Their Authors & Histories

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

	446	OUR FAMILIAR SONGS.
	Poor soul! none but he Remain'd on the sea ; Ah ! fate, fate, how could you do so ! Till ashore he was thrown, On an island unknown ; Oh ! poor Robinson Crusoe ! He wanted something to eat, And he sought for some meat, But the cattle away from him flew so, That, but for his gun, He'd been surely undone; Oh ! my poor Robinson Crusoe! But he sav'd from aboard An old gun and a sword, And another odd matter or two, so That, by dint of his thrift, He manag'd to shift; Well done, Robinson Crusoe. And he happen'd to save From the merciless wave A poor parrot; I assure you, 'tis true! so That when he'd come home From a wearisome roam, She'd cry out, " Poor Robinson Crusoe ! "		He got all the wood That ever he could, And stuck it together with glue, so That he made him a hut, In which he might put The carcase of Robinson Crusoe. He us'd to wear an old cap, And a coat with long flap, With a beard as long a Jew, so That, by all that is civil, He look'd like a devil More than like Robinson Crusoe. And then his man Friday, Kept the house neat and tidy— To be sure, 'twas his business to do so— They liv'd friendly together, Less like servant than neighbor, Liv'd Friday and Robinson Crusoe. At last, an English sail Came near within hail; Then he took to his little canoe, so That, on reaching the ship, The captain gave him a trip Back to the country of Robinson Crusoe.
	THE BOWLD SOJER BOY. Samuel Lover, who wrote a multitude of fine characteristic Irish songs, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1797. Although not classically educated, he was an eager reader of good literature, and that which he made himself has wide renown. Besides being compo­ser of both words and music of many songs, and a novel, sketch, and play writer, he was a portrait painter of such eminence that the office of court painter was tendered him. Illness in his family forbade his acceptance, and, oddly enough, the post declined by Lover, was immediately filled by an artist named Hayter. When twenty-one years old, at a pub­lic dinner given to Tom Moore, Lover was called on for a song, and gave one of his own, which was received with great enthusiasm. In later fife, when the dOURle strain of pen and pencil had seriously affected his eyesight, the remembered success of that time sug­gested the establishment of an entertainment called " Irish Evenings," which consisted of mingled reading, recitation, and singing of his own compositions. He travelled through Great Britain and the United States, and in both countries met with triumphant success. His genial nature rendered him a delightful guest, and his visit furnished new and pleasant material for continued popularity at home. Lover died, July 6,1868.