"A Chat with David Gray

On Monday, May 1st, 1865 - so well do I remember the date - I entered the service of Hopwood and Crew, in Bond-street. They were then the publishers of all the popular songs.

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I was twelve years with Hopwood and Crew, and in those cirumstances met most of the well-known artists of that day - Harry Clifton, for instance, whose 'motto' songs were mostly set to Mr Coote's waltzes, such as the 'Cornflower', 'Queen of the Harvest' and 'Innocence'."

Era, Sep 25, 1897



"Editorial

Now, Harry Clifton was his own lyric author and composer, and very rarely sang any but his own compositions. In London he was an immense favourite, and made a speciality on motto songs. Amongst these effusions may be mentioned 'Never look behind', 'Up with the lark in the morning', 'It's not the miles we travel', 'There's nothing succeeds like success' and 'Paddle your own canoe', a song that is still sung in remote parts of the country. We heard an old boy of seventy-two struggle through it only a couple of Easters ago.

One scarcely looks for the subject of a comic song in the Bible, but that's where the sentiment of 'Paddle your own canoe' comes from. When this ditty was written - 1863 - Mr J Mcgregor was travelling all over Europe with his celebrated boat, the Rob Roy, and canoes were all the vogue. Mr Clifton also gave 'The dark girl dressed in blue', 'On board the Kangaroo', 'My Matilda Jane', but the greatest of all his successes was undoubtedly 'Pretty Polly Perkins'.

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Mr W H Morrish, still happily alive, "ran" Mr Harry Clifton and his concert party through all the principal towns in England in 1867, when 'Polly Perkins' and 'Paddle your own canoe' were, perhaps, the most popular items.

It may be pointed out that at least one song, 'Percy St Barbe', was written and composed by Charles Blatherwick. Many of the composers of the day supplied him with melodies, including F A Springthorpe, J Holbrook, Charles Coote jnr, M Hobson and G Operti. But Harry Clifton did the lion's share of the numberless songs he presented to the laughter-loving world.

Poor Harry Clifton! He was a most successful man, cast off in the very prime of life, for he died as far back as 1872, on July 15th, aged only forty years. But he did more than most of us, for he certainly added to the gaiety of his fellow man and he left behind him several compositions that are still alive."

Era, Jun 3, 1899


"To the Editor of the Era

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I may add that I enjoyed the acquaintance of the late Harry Clifton. Harry Clifton was very near my prototype. I made up the characters as he did, and sang his songs long after his death at Evans's Hotel - 'Jolly Old English Squire', 'Welcome as the flowers in May', etc, and Mr Charles Coote, of the firm of Hopwood and Crew, printed my name on the title pages.

Yours faithfully, J W Rowley
156 Lambeth-walk. June 8th."

Era, Jun 10, 1899


The above is presumably the same J W Rowley for whom Joseph Bryan Geoghegan wrote Down in a coal mine.