Page 4 - The 17th Percy French Festival: The Quest for Authenticity

Percy French

A Brief Biography

Childhood and Early Adulthood
William Percy French, (Illus. !) songwriter, singer,
musician, humourist, and artist, was born on !st May
!&'( at Cloonyquin House, Co. Roscommon. He was the
second son and the third child of the nine children born
to Christopher French (!&$!– !&)*), a landlord, and
Susan Emma French (née Percy), (!&$*–!)!(), the
daughter of the Reverend William Alexander Percy
(!*)+–!&+)), rector of Kiltoghert Church of Irel and
parish in Co. Leitrim and his wife, Elizabeth Percy (née
Lloyd) (c.!&,, –!&(*).- French’s childhood was an idyllic
one in many ways: Cloonyquin House was a marvel lous
place in which to play hide-and-seek and also a game
which the boisterous Percy and his siblings called
‘The Lion Hunt’, and in his quiter moments Percy loved
drawing, carving wooden "gures with a penknife, and
Illustration !. Frontispiece of Emily de Burgh Daly (ed), playing with tin soldiers. His father’s library was also
Prose, Poems and Parodies of Percy French, Dublin: Talbot Press, !)$). a favourite haunt, where he spent ‘many a splendid

hour [ . . . ] following the fortunes of Nicholas Nickleby,
Notes
! Belfast News-Letter, +th April !&(*; Cork Constitution, %rd March !&+); or "ght ing Malay pirates and mediæval robbers with
Leinster Reporter, !'th May !&)*; Daily Express, %!st December !)!(; Charles Reade. He also participated in such outdoor
Emily de Burgh Daly (ed), Chronicles and Poems of Percy French (Dublin: pursuits as cricket, "shing and horse-riding at Cloony -
Talbot Press, !)$$), p.!.
$ de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, pp.(; +; !$; !'–!+; !); %)–($. quin.. It is likely that the good relations which pre vailed
$ de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.(%. between Christopher French and his tenants contrib -
( Roscommon Herald, !'th December !&+,, !(th June !&+$. uted to the harmon ious atmosphere that prevailed
In June !&+& he gave a party to $+, of the schoolchildren living on his estate.
The Roscommon Herald commented on !%th June: ‘All remarked on the clean at Cloonyquin when Percy was growing up there./
and healthy appearance of the children, and with such a prospect of a rising Percy’s father was known as ‘Christopher the Good’ due
generation there need be little apprehension of a decrease of the population to his generous hospitality in host ing annual dinners
on the Cloonyquinn [sic] estate–but, did every landlord take the same interest
Mr French does in the prosperity of their tenants, the country generally would for his tenants,0 and in Septem ber !&*), during the
present a di3erent appearance to what it does.’ severe agricul tural depres sion in the West of Ireland
' Roscommon Herald, $,th September !&*). which was a catalyst for the Land War, the Roscommon
+ de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, pp.+; $%. Herald stated that Christopher French’s name was ‘the
* Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal, $'th June !&*'; Lakes Herald, !,th December !),).
& de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.$'. syn onym of good landlordism’ and lauded his decisiont
) Ulster Gazette, !)th March !&&!; de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.((. to lower rents on his estate by $, per cent.1
!, Berrie O’Neill, Tones that are Tender: Percy French !"#$–!%&'
(Dublin: Lilliput, Press, $,!+), p.%'.
!! de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, pp.$&–$); Ettie French, Willie (Holywood: Percy was "rst taught at home by tutors and govern -
Percy French Society, !))(), pp.$'–$+. esses, but when he was ten years old the French family
!$ de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.+,; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, pp. ($–(%. moved to Derbyshire to further the children’s educa -
!% O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, pp.($–(%; Stefanie P. Jones, ‘Price, James’, tion.2 Percy "rst attended for two years at the Reverend
Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/price-james-a*())
!( de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, pp.%,–%%. John Barton’s (!&!+–!&*') school at Kirk Langley,

•C• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL "#"$