Page 8 - The 17th Percy French Festival: The Quest for Authenticity

preferred to o3er London publi cations to their cus tom -
ers. Another obsta cle was the fact that the best Irish
comic talent had been ‘absorbed’ by London and New
York publishers..6

Percy French in the !"#$s
On $&th June !&),, French married Ethel (‘Ettie’)
Kathleen Armytage-Moore (!&*!– !&)!) of Arnmore
House, Drumelis, Co. Cavan, the second daughter of
William Armytage-Moore (!&,'–!&&%), manager of the
Annesley estate at Castlewellan, Co. Down, and his wife
Mary Elizabeth Lockwood (née Metcalfe) (!&('–!)%$)./7
Ettie, a talented artist, contributed many drawings to
The Jarvey and also conducted its society column,
‘Chit Chatters’, in !&),. For a brief period the newlyweds
ran a shop, The Old Curiosity Shop, at %! Little Denmark
Street in Dublin, whose main output was engravings,
sketches and paintings in oils and in watercolours pro -
duced by Percy./- Ettie died in Dublin of meningitis
or septicaemia on $)th June !&)!, after giving birth
to a daughter, Ethel Florence Cecilia, on 'th June; her
baby died on 'th July !&)! at Cloonyquin./. A grief-
stricken French threw himself into a hectic work sched -
ule, contributing comic sketches, poetry and drawings
on a regular basis to the Irish Cyclist, of which news -
paper’s sta3 he became a permanent member. Earlier
in !&)! French had collaborated with the musician, and
Illus (. A photograph of Houson Collisson.
Frontispiece of William Alexander Houston Collisson, future clergyman in the Church of England, Dr William
Dr Collisson in and on Ireland, London: Robert Sutton, !),&. Alexander Houston Collisson (!&+'–!)$,) (Illus. *) in
producing The Knight of the Road, a comic opera which
was well received by Dublin audiences. Their friendship
Notes and working partnership continued in the years after
$) The Jarvey, (th October !&),; !!th October !&),; Evening Telegraph, *th May !&)$.
%, Ulster Examiner, !!th April !&*!; Cavan Weekly News, $%rd February !&&%; Ettie’s death, resulting in the pro duc tion of several comic
Illustrated London News, %rd March !&&%; Irish Society, ' July !&),; Banbridge plays which they performed in Dublin and Irish provin -
Chronicle, %rd December !)%$.
%! O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, pp.*(–*'. cial towns. French achieved national fame in Ireland in

%$ Contemporary newspapers state that Ettie died of meningitis, but some modern the !&),s with his versatile entertain ments in countless
sources say that septicaemia was the cause of her death: Daily Express, !st July !&)!; Irish towns and villages, performances that included
Newry Telegraph, $nd July !&)!; Cavan Weekly News, !*th July !&)!; White and
McCabe, ‘French, (William) Percy’, Dictionary of Irish Biography; Tongue, Picture, p.!); humorous songs, poems and anecdotes, slide shows,
O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.&!. and quickly executed ‘smoke drawings’ on china plates.
%% Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette, !st January !&*,; Banbury Advertiser, He also fell in love again, marrying for the second time
!st February !&)(; Alan Tongue, The Love Letters of Percy French and More Besides . . .
(Dublin: Lilliput Press, $,!'), p.!($. on $(th January !&)(. His bride was Helen (‘Lennie’)
%( French, Willie, p.'*; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.)'. May Cunningham Sheldon (!&+&–!)'+), the daughter
%' French, Willie, p.'). of Jonathan Sheldon (!&(!–!)!)) a mill-owner, of
%+ Folkestone Express, $!st September !)!$; de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.!'*; Bur ming ton House, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire
Hastings and St Leonards Observer, *th February !)%!; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender,
pp.!%(–!%+. and his wife, Mary Clementina Sheldon (née Tribe)

•H• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL "#"$