Annotation:Tally Ho (1)
X:1 T:Tally Ho [1] M:3/8 L:1/8 N:”Sung by Mrs. Wrigton at Vauxhall.” S: William Clark of Lincoln music manuscript collection (1770) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G G|BGB|dBd|gdd|d2 d/>c/|dBd|cAc|B3|G2e| d2 B/>d/|(d/c/)BA|G2G|BGB|d>ef|gBe|{d}^c2A|dfd| geg|(f/e/f/g/f/g/|a2)d|d^cd (e/g/)fe|d2d|d!fermata!Af|f!fermata!dd| e<gf|g2g|{g}f(e/d/)(^c/B/)|(^c/e/)(d/B/)(c/^A/)|B2d|deB|c2 c/c/|cdA| B2d/d/|g/g/ zf|a2gb|aaa|a2 d/c/|BGB|dBd|gd/g/b/g/| a2d|d'/d'/ zg|a2 g/a/|ggg|g2 g/d/|g2 b/a/|b2 b/a/|b2b/a/| d'2 b/g/|d'2 b/g/|d'd'd'|!fermata!d'2d|g<bg|a2 g/a/|ggg|g2||
TALLY HO [1]. AKA - "Ye sportsman draw near." English, Air (3/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). "Tally Ho [1]," originally a popular song air, was published in several latter 18th century tutors and publications, including Longman and Broderip's The Clarinet Instructor (London, c. 1780), Thomas Cahusac's Compleat Tutor for the German Flute (London, 1788), the Thompsons' Compleat Tutor for the Hautboy (London, c. 1790), David Sime's Edinburgh Musical Miscellany (Edinburgh, 1792), and Edward Riley's Flute Melodies (New York, 1820). The melody was also entered into a number of musicians' manuscript collections on both sides of the Atlantic, including William Clark (Lincoln, 1770), Linnaeus Bolling (Buckingham County, Va., 1785), George Malecot (Whitehaven, England, 1779), and others (see EASMES for more). The first stanza of the song goes:
YE sportsmen draw near, and ye sportswomen too,
Who delight in the joys of the field,
Mankind, tho' they blame, are all eager as you,
And no one the contest will yield,
His lordship, his worship, his honour, his grace,
A hunting continually go;
All ranks and degrees are engag'd in the chace,
With hark forward, huzza tally ho.
The introduction of the song to Vienna is mentioned in this anecdote in Reminiscences of Michael Kelly (1826), as recalled by the famous playwright. Kelly had just returned from a trip to the city, where he was in residence at the time:
Upon my return, my servant informed me that a lady and gentleman had called upon me, who said they came from England, and requested to see me at their hotel. I called the next morning, and saw the gentleman, who said his name was Botterelli, that he was the Italian poet of the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, and that his wife was an English woman, and a principal singer at Vauxhall, Ranelagh, and Pantheon, &c. Her object in visiting Vienna was to give a concert, to be heard by the Emperor; and is she gave that satisfaction, (which she had no doubt she would), to accept of an engagement at the Royal Theatre; and he added, that she had letters for the first nobility in Vienna.
The lady came into the room; she was a very fine woman, and seemed sinking under the conscious load of her attradtions.—She really had powerful letters of recommendation. Prince Charles Lichenstein granted her his protection; and there was such interest made for her, that the Emperor himself signified his Royal intention of honouring her concert with his presence. Every thing was done for her;--the orchestra and sings were engaged;--the concert began to a crowded house, but, I must premise, we had no rehersal. At the end of the first act, the beauteous Syren, led into the orchestra by her caro sposo, placed herself just under the Emperor’s box, the orchestra being on the stage. She requested me to accompany her song on the pian-forte.—I of course consented. Her air and manner spoke “dignity and love.” The audience sat in mute and breathless expectation. The doubt was, whether she would melt into their ears in a fine cantabile, or burst upon them with a brilliant bravura. I struck the chords of the symphony—silence reigned—when, to the dismay and astonishment of the brilliant audience, she bawled out, without feeling or remorse, voice or time, or indeed one note in tune, the hunting song of “Tally ho!” in all its pure originality. She continued shrieking out Tally ho! Tally ho! in a manner and tone so loud and dissonant, that they were enough to blow off the roof of the house. The audience jumped up terrified; some shrieked with alarm, some hissed, others hooted, and many joined in the unknown yell, in order to propitiate her. The Emperor called me to him, and asked me in Italian (what tally ho! meant?)—I replied, I did not know; and literally, at that time I did not.
His majesty, the Emperor, finding that even I, a native of Great Britain, either could not, or would not, explain the purport of the mysterious words, retired with great indignation from the theatre; and the major part of the audience, convinced by His Majesty’s sudden retreat that they contained some horrible meaning, followed the Royal example. The ladies hid their faces with their fans, and mothers were heard in the lobbies cautioning their daughters on the way out, never to repeat the dreadful expression of “tally ho,” nor venture to ask any of their friends for a translation of it.
The next day, when I saw the husband of “tally ho,” he abused the taste of the people of Vienna, and said that the song, which they did not know how to appreciate, had been sung by the celebrated Mrs. Wrighton at Vauxhall, and was a great favourite all over England. Thus however, ended the exhibition of English taste; and Signora Tally ho! with her Italian poet, went ‘hunting’ elsewhere, and never returned to Vienna, at least during my residence.
