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pretty maid?" which is described as an old English ballad, was never, as far as can be ascertained, sung in Kenney's comedy—the song in the printed edition of the play being that charming lyric, " Why are you wandering here, I pray ?" with music by Isaac Nathan, a composer who set many of Kenney's ballads and lays. Kenney's grandson and grand-daughter, Charles Horace Kenney and Rosa Kenney, by the way, are both in the theatrical profession.
There is an old country courting song called " Dumbledum Deny," which, in sentiment and refrain, is not unlike this old ballad of " Where are you going ?"
It is to be feared that the author and com-poser of this deliciously quaint and plain-spoken song will never be traced now. For it is very certain that it dates back to very early times indeed—to times long anterior to the one when the art of music was universally cultivated, except orally. Who was first inspired with the happy idea of first writing the piece down we know not—we can only bless his forethought in preserving to us such a charming gem of old English minstrelsy. Its hold upon the public has been very great indeed, and the form in which it is written has tempted many a scribe to
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