"CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY"
YARN THAT SOLD AN OLD SONG. The following bright little story, by Dr. Thomas Tapper, is said 10 have been the means of selling 25,000 copies of the old song, "Carry Me Back To Old Virginity," in America, long after any publisher thought that there was a kick left in tho ancient ditty:— We sat one evening in the moonlight, singing old songs. There was just the gentlest motion in the leaves overhead. The lake, a mile or so away, looked like a sheet of silver. I felt that there was not an evil thought, that night, within a hundred miles' of us; and there shouldn't have been one anywhere on earth. Some songs were rollicking and boisterous ; other were just happy and free; but one, Carry Me Back To Old Virginny," was reverent. I can lind no other word to describe the spirit which came to us from that wonderful melody. At my Tight sat a little creature not a minute under seventyfive nor an ounce over ninety-eight. lie didnli sing two notes in tune, nor one tor that' matter; but he simply could not keep back tho impulse to t v to hum the melody along with the rest of us. He made me think of a, tuneful Dormouse. "When the song was dune he coughed suspiciously lourl, wiped his eyes, and said: "It's funny how this night air takes hold of me." Nearby sat a tall, bronzed, sterling son of the ages. He looking like a Vjlcing for courage, and a Greek athlete for _pow_er. When -fre came to the woras: "No place on earth do I love moro sincerely," his vigorous, tuneful voice just crumpled up and slipped down his throat. I was sorry he felt compelled to drop out for lie was a sustaining power to the chorus. Whon the last notes had died away, there followed the stillness of a silent prayer. I was as sure as I am of isy existence that we all lost for a tt<omenj the moonlight and the lake and saw once again the flowered fields of our childhood, the starry sky, and the smiles of the loved ones at, home. • Well, somebody had toy break "the spell, so I said to the Viking: "Born in Virginia ?" "No, sir," he replied, "I come fiom Australia, but for fifteen years past I Kavo been in business in Winnipeg. No,", he went on, rather wistfully, "I have never been in Virginia." TlTpn 1 said, to the. Dormouse: "Are you from South?" a M™ny, no, not exactly," he answered, "Berwick, Maine, is my home town. But most of my life I've lived in Massachusetts. In fact, I always sign■ ei.vt self from Boston. Big place, you know, and quite well known. But what difference does it make where a man comes from. Home is home for everybody."
"A'n'd lliank God for tlie memory of it," said the Viking.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160205.2.118
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 15
Word count
Tapeke kupu
492"CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY" Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 15
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.