Page 6 - The 17th Percy French Festival: The Quest for Authenticity

‘negro melodies’ at Punchestown races on one occasion.-0
French considered emigrating to Manitoba, but instead
in %&&$ took up a post with the Board of Works, working
as an inspector of loans to farmers in Co. Cavan: this job
chie"y entailed inspecting sites relating to improve ments
to agricultural properties.-1 His work as a self-styled
‘inspector of drains’ continued until he was made
redundant in September %&&&.-2

French was an active participant in the social life of Cavan’s
Illus %. Advertisement for a performance by the Kinnypottle Church of Ireland commu nity, taking part in various fund-
Komicks. Emily de Burgh Daly (ed), Chronicles and Poems of raising concerts to help paint and restore Belturbet church
Percy French.Dublin: Talbot Press, %)##, p.'+.
and to restore and replace its organ;-4 to repair the organ
in Cavan’s Church of Ireland building and to raise money
for the parish sustentation fund;-5 and to liqui date the
debt of Cavan Protestant Hall.-6 French, a lifelong teeto -
taller, also entertained members of the Killoughter branch
Notes of the Church of Ireland Temp er ance Society at a soirée in
%' Lawrence William White and Desmond McCabe, ‘French, (William) Percy’,
Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/french-william-percy-a$$*% the local schoolhouse in March %&&(..7 Much of his time in
%+ French marked his appointment with the Board of Works by composing a song for Cavan was spent in playing tennis at country houses dur -
the family magazine which he, his siblings, their Richardson cousins and their friends, ing the summers (including winning several prizes at the
the Godley brothers, sons of Reverend James Godley (%&#%–%)%,), rector of Carrigallen,
produced for their entertainment. Originally titled The Tulsk Morning Howl, the magazine county tour naments). French combined his engineer ing
later became known as The Trombone of Truth. The lyrics of the original version– skills with his love of tennis in the laying of tennis courts at
The E(usion of William Inspector of Drains–are published in James N. Healy, Percy French
and His Songs (Dublin and Cork: Mercier Press, %)++), pp %+–%). A shorter version with the rear of the Protestant Hall in Cavan, for which he had
altered lyrics–Song of William, Inspector of Drains–may be found in de Burgh Daly, many tons of sand trans ported from Bundoran..- In the
Chronicles, pp.')–+,. winters he engaged in tobogganing, fencing and playing
%* Cavan Weekly News, %(th March %&&(; #(th October %&&(; #'th December %&&';
*th October %&&*; #&th October %&&*. hockey; according to his solicitor friend, William Henry
%& Cavan Weekly News, %(th March %&&(: $rd April %&&'. Halpin of Ford Lodge (%&+#–%)$*), he was ‘good at them

%) Cavan Weekly News, %$th November %&&'. all’... He also began a lifetime passion for painting
#, An admirer wrote of French’s performance that ‘the selection which he gave from landscapes, and one year after his appointment to Cavan
his far-famed songs, the sweetness of his tuneful tenor voice, and the verve and
brilliance of his singing, formed a musical gem in a very faultless setting. He also he exhib ited watercolours in Dublin../ His fondness for
most kindly accompanied the various singers on the banjo with re!ned taste’: musical enter tainments also continued, particularly as
Cavan Weekly News, %(th March %&&(. evidenced by his playing the banjo with the Kinnypottle
#% Cavan Weekly News, #,th April %&&+; #nd July %&&+; #,th August %&&+; French,
Willie, p.$#; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.''. Komicks, a Christy Minstrel group named after the river
## French, Willie, p.$#; Anglo-Celt, #(th April %)$*. which "ows through Cavan town..0 (Illus. $) Cycling was
#$ French, Willie, p.$+. another of French’s pursuits when he lived in Cavan.
#( Sligo Champion, *th February %&&'; %(th February %&&'; de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, He cycled partly for economic reasons, as his riding
pp.''–'+. A poster featuring the Kinnypottle Komicks is reproduced in O’Neill,
Tones that are Tender, p.',. a bicycle when visiting farms as part of his job meant that
#+ de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, pp.'+–'*. the thrifty French was able to save the nine pence mileage
#* Healy, Percy French, pp.##–##; %+(. allowance which the Board of Works granted to its o8 -
#& A copy of the letter announcing his redundancy, dated #&th July %&&&, is reproduced
in Alan Tongue, A Picture of Percy French (Antrim: Greystone Books, %)),), p.%#. cials..1 French and his friend, John William Weekes, a mem -
#) The Jarvey, (th October %&),; %%th October %&),; Evening Telegraph, *th May %&)#. ber of the Kinny pottle Komicks and fellow Board of Works
#' de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.',. employee, found that they could visit more farms when
#* Healy, Percy French, pp. ##–##, %+(. riding bicycles than if they travel led by car, thereby freeing
#& A copy of the letter announcing his redundancy, dated #&th July %&&&, is reproduced
in Alan Tongue, A Picture of Percy French (Antrim: Greystone Books, %)),), p.%#. up more time for playing tennis..2 French’s halcyon days

•ú• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL "#"$