Show KATHLEENTHE iV In I l ALL Lovans KNOW Tilt STRAINS OFMAVOUnNCBN Pees hots Ileorl f > f llii 1 > < oniH lrr l Yeho trnnh Now in lll Mn lit Ia at linurr 1 nl Spell Thl 1101011 OW many millions of people who have Ieludyf listened to tho f sweet bolus ot that plnlnllto oll I song Kathleen Matourneen are I tI aware that the compo f I com-po r I Mill Ih Ins A famous writer I 4 has said There Is I I tvo no eltxiutnco that hrllls like Irish eloquence there Is I no poetry that touches like Irish portry lero Is no wit so keen as Irish wit there Is I no melody so sweet nnd plain live as Irish melody The composer of Kathleen Matour mean Is I at present at Portland Me here he oceailonally goes to visit hula old friend The composers name Is I V Nichols Crouch and he was born In Devon hire In the west of Kngland In July S08 Ills hair linawhllons the driven snos but his frame Is I still erect and ha Is I as joung as ever sent his soul as full ot muilc Musle Is I his life nnd I love and old as he II I he Is I continual writ ng and composing and the writer linen lin-en od for some limo to sweet melodies amt good harmony which ho had just made He Is I a man who loves tocl dllty end makes thoroughly enjoyable very hour you are with him listening 10 his fund of anecdote and rcmlnls ence Professor Crouch has had an otentful Ife The story ot the writing of Kath lees Is I this In 1837 when Mr Crouch was 1ft years old tin noticed one day In 1 a Hrlllsh inaRnilno Iho little poem of Kathlten Matourneen and wan truck with the rhythmic beauty ot the Ines and the lender pathos of the theme They kept running In his head and one day while riding about the grounds of the duke of Iledfords raitle at Kngley he evolved the melody ol Kathleen that was destined to 1m l sung by countless generations and In almost every longue When he returned to his lodging he completed Ike song It was first sung by hlmsttt nt it llttlo concert In Plymouth Ply-mouth nod after the concert ho presented pre-sented the score and copyright to Mri 1 Ieler Itoen the wife of a music dealer ot Plymouth ot whom he was very fond The music house ot Hoon fallid am their effects pined to the largo house or r r r s i y m r N cnoucii DAlmalno ft Co of London and they published the song It went like wild fire and edition after edition wn exhausted Into almost al-most every country clime and language went this simple Irish song with Its softening melody until hardly a civil led nation remains that doc not know sweet Kathleen Fortunes have been made out of this song the copyright once having sold at auction after many editions had bean published for 12500 and many a concern con-cern has got rich from Its sales r n of all this vast amount of money lit poor old composer hoe never received dollar dol-lar Crouch has written many famous songs but none have approached Kathleen In popularity Dome Idea of the extent ot Its circulation can bo gained from the fact that thlrtylhreo homes In America alone have pub Ilihed l this song Professor Crouch came to America In 1849 with Max Meretlr to establish Italian opera In this country but the arblmo was a financial failure Ho then taught mule seven year In Portland and subsequently resided < In Philadelphia Philadel-phia Washington and the south He served all through Ibo war In the confederate con-federate army of Northern Virginia and carries the sears of severe wounds now He has lived for some years In lliHImore and II li still his home Ther Is I something pathetic about this dear old musician He will never grow old but will live on In his atmosphere of poetry and laude until he Joins the choirs In the nternal City and listens to the harmonies of heaven |