Black Coffee

The Playhouse A Satyr,

by Robert Gould,

1685

The Middle Galle'ry first demands our View; The filth of Jakes, and stench of ev'ry Stew! Here reeking Punks like Ev'ning Insects swarm; The Polecat's Perfume much the Happier Charm...

Discreet in this, their Faces not to shew; The Mask the best Complexion of the two. Their Noses falling and their Eyes sunk in, A wrinkl'd Forehead and a Parchment Skin...

Choak't with the stench of Brimstone, 'twill be fit To Visit next the Boxes and the Pit, And for the Muse a Nobler Scene prepare, And let Her breathe awhile in Milder Air.

But such a sudden Glare invades her Eyes, So vast a Crowd of diffe'rent Vanities, She knows where not to fix her Rancour first; So very Wicked all, that all are worst!...

Such Giddy Insects here for ever come, And very little Dare, but much Presume: Perpetually the Ladies Ears they Ply, And whisper Slander at the Standers by:

Then laugh aloud; which now is grown a part Of Play-house Breeding, and of Courtly Art. The true Sign of Your Modish Beau Garson Is Chatt'ring like a Ladies lewd Baboon,

Shewing their Teeth to charm some pretty creature; For Grinning, amoung Fops, is held a Feature...
All People now, the Place is grown so ill, Before they see a Play shou'd make their Will:

For with much more Security , a Man Might take a three Years Voyage to Japan.

Having walked north from Westminster Abbey we probably have an hour or two before Drury Lane theatre begins the evening performance, and since we're in the vicinity of several coffee houses it seems a good place to stop, wet our whistles and ask about what's playing.

Inside the atmosphere of mouth-watering coffee scent is underlaid by the whiff of smoke from clay pipes. The variety of coffees and chocolate on offer is bewildering, with so many spices and roasts to choose from I think we would be justified in spending a few minutes considering before we choose.

I'm glad you insisted on Will's Coffee House (can't miss it, look for the sign of the Rose), rather than the Turk's Head which I thought looked like a good bet. I've heard several people discussing recent plays since we settled at this table. The impression I get is that most of the plays aren't staged for very long; a week or two at most and the audiences are ready for something new.

The small huddle of gentlemen engaged in conversation a few tables over has been dwindling since we came in, and now the last two have left and I recognize the face of Mr.Dryden. I think we should invite him to join us at our table.

"Have I the honour of addressing Mr. Dryden?"

"You have, sir. Though few enough would count it an honour these days."

"Then might I invite you to share our table for a few minutes, and we shall count it both an honour and a pleasure, sir."

What I am hoping is that we might be able to find out if any of Dryden's plays are currently on the stage, but it seems that since he lost his position as Poet Laureate seven years ago, even his plays have lost their lustre with the public. I can quite understand his slightly melancholy mood.

However, as he tells us, he is free now to work on something that has interested him since his collegiate days; a translation of the works of Publius Virgilius Maro. Once he starts explaining the fascination of the classical poet's works, his face lights up with a new enthusiasm.

Returning eventually to the question of the London stage, I ask whether he knows what is playing at present, that might be worth the cost of admission.

It seems that the only play he feels would be worth our time, and that more for the theatrical music than the play itself, is a revival of Abdelazer, or The Moor's Revenge by the late Aphra Behn, as a series of benefit performances for the widow of Michael Mohun. Although she was widowed more than a decade ago, she has always been supportive of the acting community, and being unable to work because of increasingly painful arthritis, reluctantly sought their help.

While we are talking, we are joined once more by the familiar figure of Mr.Pepys. As soon as introductions have been made (I am flattered that Samuel Pepys remembers us by the sound of our voices, from our previous encounter in the Lloyds Coffee House), Mr.Pepys cautions us against the Orange Girls.

These traders visit the playhouses to sell fruit at extortionate prices, and Pepys himself tells us how:

The orange-woman did come in the pit and challenge me for twelve oranges, which she delivered by my order at a late play, at night, to give to some ladies in a box, which was wholly untrue, but yet she swore it to be true. But, however, I did deny it, and did not pay her; but , for quiet, did buy 4s.¹ worth of oranges of her, at 6d. a-piece.'

Dryden summarises the play for us as follows: it was published in 1657 and tells the story of a vengeful wicked Moor, whose kingdom has been vanquished by Spain, who tires of his affair with the lascivious Queen of Spain and plots with her to murder the King, thinking to murder her afterwards, and reign with his innocent young wife. However, the Queen in her turn kills his wife, and plots to take her son’s throne. It is full of action with armies engaged on stage, people in disguise escaping from imprisonment and torture and a final act in which the wicked are punished and the good prince wins the throne.²

If Mr.Dryden felt that the music for the play was better than the play itself, I can hardly disagree with him. From the play, here is Mr. Henry Purcell's Rondeau.

X:4 % number T:Rondeau % title C:Henry Purcell % composer O:Music for Abdelazer or The Moor's Revenge (Dolce Edition) % origin. M:3/4 % meter L:1/8 % length of shortest note Q: % tempo P:ABACA %%staves Sop | {Hr1 Hr2 Hl} V:Sop name="Soprano" sname="S." clef=treble V:Hr1 name="Harpsichord" sname="Hp." clef=treble V:Hr2 clef=treble V:Hl clef=bass K:F % key P:A %1===============================2====================3================4================= [V:Sop]|: D2 F2 A2 | de/f/ g/f/e/d/ ^c2 | ad/f/ a/f/d b2 | gc/e/ g/e/c a2 | [V:Hr1]|: [FDA,]2 [FDA,]2 [EA,]2 | F G/A/ B2 [AE^C]2 | A2 d2 d/B/G | [cGC]4 c/A/F | [V:Hr2]|: Z | D2 DG z2 | D4 z2 | Z | [V:Hl] |: d2 d2 c2 | B2 G2 A2 | f4 g2 | e4 f2 | % %5=====================6=================7=======================8========================== [V:Sop] fB/d/ f/d/B g2 | eA/^c/ e/c/A f2 | e/f/e/d/ ^cf e/f/e/d/ | Ad ^c/d/e/c/ !fine! d2 :| [V:Hr1] [BFD]4 B/G/E | [AEA,]4 A/F/D | [BD]2 [AE^C]2 [GD]2 | GF E2 [FDA,]2 :| [V:Hr2] Z | Z | Z | ^CD A,2 z2 :| [V:Hl] d4 e2 | ^c4 d2 | G2 A2 B2 | A4 d2 :| % P:B %9========================10=====================11=====================12===================== [V:Sop] F2 A2 c2 | fg/a/ b/a/g/f/ ef/g/ | ab/a/ ga/g/ fF/G/ | ab/a/ ga/g/ Ff/e/ | [V:Hr1] [CA,]2 [FC]2 [GC]2 | AB/c/ [dBF]2 [cGE]2 | [cAF]2 [cGC]2 A=B | [cE]2 [GE]2 [cFC]2 | [V:Hr2] Z | F2 z2 z2 | z2 z2 F2 | Z | [V:Hl] f4 e2 | d2 B2 c2 | c2 B2 A2 | c2 B2 A2 | % %13=========================14====================15====================16============================ [V:Sop] de/d/ cd/c/ Bg/f/ | ef/e/ de/d/ Ca/g/ | fg/f/ ef/e/ dg | cf e/f/g/e/ f2 || [V:Hr1] [BFD]2 [cFC]2 [BGD]2 | [GEC]2 [GD]2 [AEC]2 | [AFD]2 [AE]2 AB/A/ | [GE][AF] [GEC]2 [AFC]2 || [V:Hr2] Z | Z | z2 z2 FD | Z || [V:Hl] B2 A2 G2 | c2 B2 A2 | d2 c2 B2 | c4 F2 || % P:C %17===============================18============================19============================= [V:Sop] !trill! c>d c/d/e f/e/d/c/ | !trill! =B>c B/c/d e/d/c/B/ | !trill! c>d c/d/e f/e/d/c/ | [V:Hr1] [AEC]4 [cE]2 | [=BE]4 [BE]2 | [AEC]4 [AFD]2 | [V:Hr2] Z | Z | Z | [V:Hl] a2 A2 a2 | ^f2 e2 g2 | a2 A2 d2 | % %20======================21============================22===========================23============================= [V:Sop] !trill! c3 =B A2 | !trill! e>f e/f/g a/g/f/e/ | !trill! f>g f/g/a b/a/g/f/ | !trill! e>f e/f/g a/g/f/e/ | [V:Hr1] A2 ^G2 [AEC]2 | ^c>d c/d/e f/e/d/c/ | d>e d/e/f g/f/e/d/ | ^c>d c/d/e f/e/d/c/ | [V:Hr2] [E=B,]4 z2 | [AE]4 A2 | A4 B2 | A4 A2 | [V:Hl] e4 A2 | a2 ^c'2 a2 | d'2 d2 g2 | a2 A2 d2 | % %24=========================================== [V:Sop][L:1/32] f6g2 !trill! g6fg !D.C.! a8 || [V:Hr1] [dAF]2 [dGD]2 [^cAE]2 || [V:Hr2] Z || [V:Hl] dc B2 A2 || To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit]. If you know the music of Benjamin Britten, you might also recognize this as the theme for his "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra".

Notes

1. English currency before decimalisation:

Pounds	Shillings	Pence
£	s.	d.

2. I would like to acknowledge Dawn Lewcock's article for a summary of the plot.

The Queen is dead. Long Live the King.

"'at's Queen Mary. She choked on a plum."
"she did not. You bin listenin' to Possle again encha? 'E don't know nuffin' so 'e makes it up."
My two young advisers are a couple of Thames mudlarks, urchins who, in the absence of better employment, contribute to their families welfare by searching the mud of the riverbank at low tide for dropped valuables and the occasional coin. Although they're equally likely to be found knocking hats off unwary heads with a well-aimed stone. And only the sharpest wits are ever likely to see exactly where the missile originated.
"'ere 'e is nah. Wotcha Possle!"
"Permit me to introduce myself sirs. I have the honour to be your humble servant, Oliver Postlethwaite, apothecary surgeon".
Possle is a rather tatty-looking character with stockings that don't quite match and a pervasive odour of stale urine.
"If I may be so bold sir, your complexion suggests that you suffer from a weakness of the stones, for which I can offer a very efficacious remedy."
He may be half-wasted, but Possle's diagnosis is worryingly accurate, at least to the point of identifying that I have a very feminine appearance.
We are here on the edges of a crowd that is still assembling outside Westminster Abbey to pay our final respects to the late Queen Mary(or just take advantage of an excuse to close the shop for an hour or two). As the funeral procession approaches, the drumbeat changes while remaining consistent.
Tan tan tan ta-ta tan
Tan ta-ta tan tan tan
Ta-ta tan tan ta-ta tan
Tan tan ta-ta tan tan
Until inside the abbey, a final TAN-TAN! marks the halt. I can't see anybody signalling from here at the back of the crowd, but it seems somebody has performed a very deft sleight-of-hand, because, precisely as the catafalque entered the abbey, the organ began a sombre tune in perfect time to the drumbeat.
Among the other vendors working the crowd is a ballad-seller with something very unusual, and very interesting to me: a copy of Purcell's Ode on the Birthday of Queen Mary composed only eight months earlier for the celebrations.

X:3 T:Strike the viol % title C:Henry Purcell % composer O:William F. Long transcription % origin. N:http://www.drdrbill.com/music.html M:3/4 % meter L:1/8 % length of shortest note Q:60 % tempo %%staves Ct { ( Hr1 Hr2 ) ( Hl ) } V:Ct name="Countertenor" sname="Ct" % voice 1 V:Hr1 name="Harpsichord" sname="Hp" clef=treble V:Hr2 clef=treble V:Hl clef=bass K:C % key %1======================2============================3==================4============================= [V:Ct] Z | Z |: e>d c2 dB | c2 A2 z2 | w:Strike__ the_ vi-ol, [V:Hr1] [ECA,]4 [EDB,]2 | [ECA,]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G,]2 |: [ECA,]4 [EDB,]2 | [ECA,]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G,]2 | [V:Hl] A3 a ^ge | a2 z d eE |: A2 z a ^ge | a2 z d eE | % %5======================6============================7==================8============================ [V:Ct] e>d c2 dB | c2 A2 z2 | c2 z2 B/c/d | B2 z2 cG | w:strike__ the_ vi-ol, touch, touch,__ touch, touch_ [V:Hr1] [ECA,]4 [EDB,]2 | [ECA,]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G,]2 | [ECA,]4 [FB,A,]2 |[FB,G,]2 z [DB,G,] [ECG,]2 | [V:Hl] A3 a ^ge | a2 z d eE | A3 a fd | g2 z g ec | % %9===============================10==================11================12============================ [V:Ct][L:1/16] ABc2 BA3G3 ^F |[L:1/8] E4 z2 | A^GAc B2 | c4 z2 | w:touch,__ touch__ the Lute; wake___ the Harp, [V:Hr1] [FCA,]2 z [FCA,] [DB,G,]2 | [ECG,]4 [EB,^G,]2 | [ECA,]4 [EDB,]2 | [ECA,]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G]2 | [V:Hl] f2 z d gG | c2 z d eE | A2 z a ^ge | a2 z d eE | % %13====================14==========================15========================16============ [V:Ct] A^GAc B2 | c4 z2 | cBce d2 | e4 dc | w:wake___ the Harp; wake___ the Harp, in- [V:Hr1] [ECA,]4 [EDB,]2 | [ECA,]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G]2 | [ECA,]2 z [ECG,] [DG,]2 | [ECG,]6 | [V:Hl] A2 z a ^ge | a2 z d eE | A2 z c BG | c2 z d ec | % %17=======================18========================19========================20================== [V:Ct][L:1/16] B3cABcdc3 B |[L:1/8] c4 z2 | cBcd e2 | e4 dc | w:spire______ the Flute; wake___ the Harp, in- [V:Hr1] [FB,A,]4 [FB,G,]2 | [ECG,]3 [FCA,] [DB,G,]2 | [ECG,]2 z [ECG,] [DG,]2 | [ECG,]4 [GCG,]2 | [V:Hl] f3 d gG | c3 d GG, | C2 z c BG | c3 d ec | % %21========================22==================23========================24============================= [V:Ct][L:1/16] B2c2Bcd2c3 B |[L:1/8] c4 z2 :| c4 z2 |: z2 G2 G2 | w:spire_____ the flute; flute; Sing, your [V:Hr1] [FB,A,]4 [FB,G,]2 | [ECG,]4 [EC^G,]2 :| [ECG,]2 z [FCA,] [DBG]2 |: [ECG,]2 z [FCA,] [DB,G,]2 | [V:Hl] f3 D gG | c2 z d cB :| c2 z F GG, |: c2 z F GG, | % %25============================26==========================27===============28=========================== [V:Ct] G4 G2 | ABAB c2 | B4 z2 | z2 d2 d2 | w:Pa-tro-ne----ss's praise, Sing your [V:Hr1] [ECG,]2 z [ECG,] [DG,]2 | [ECG,]2 z [ECA,] [^FCA,]2 | [GDB,]4 [ADC]2 | [GDB,]2 z [GEC] [^FDA,]2 | [V:Hl] C2 z c BG | c2 z A dD | G2 z g ^fd | g2 z c dD | % %29===================30==========================31================32===============33================== [V:Ct] d3e d2 | dedf e2 | f4 d2 | z2 B2 e2 | z2 A2 cB | w:Pa--tro-ness's____ praise, Sing, sing, sing, sing in_ [V:Hr1] [GDB,]4 [ADC]2 | [GDB,]2 z [FDA,] [E^CA,]2 | [FDA,]4 [ADA,]2 | [GDB,]4 [GEC]2 | [FCA,]4 [FDG,]2 | [V:Hl] G2 z g ^fd | g2 z d aA | d2 z e fd | g2 z g ec | f2 z f dB | % %34=======================35=========================36================37======================= [V:Ct] ^GE/^F/GFGF/E/ | AA/B/cBc/B/A | dB/c/dcd/c/B | cc/d/ede/d/c | w:cheer---------- [V:Hr1] [EB,^G,]4 [^GEB,]2 | [AEA,]2 z [^GEB,] [AEC]2 | [GDB,]4 [GFB,]2 | [GEC]2 z [GFD] [EC]2 | [V:Hr2] Z36 | z4 GA | [V:Hl] e2 z B eB | c2 z e ae | f2 z d gd | e2 z d cA | % %38=============39==========================40==========================41==== [V:Ct] fedc B A | AB A/B/c BA |[1 A4 z2 :|[2 A6 |] w:----full and har--mo---nious_ lays. [V:Hr1] [^GFB,]6 | [AEC]2 z [FCA,] [EB,^G,]2 |[1 [ECA,]2 z [ECG,] [DG,] :|[2 [ECA,]6 |] [V:Hl] e2 z B cA | e2 z d eE |[1 A2 z c BG :|[2 A6 |] To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit]. To listen to the Funeral March for Queen Mary II, click the gramophone.

I don't know about you, but after the funeral, I feel like something a bit more cheerful. What say we totter along to Drury Lane and see if Mr.Dryden has something new to entertain us?

A Little Bird told me...

It's nice, if a little disorienting, to be able to leave a cold February morning for a balmy July evening in the city of London. Children are playing in the streets, dogs are barking (and playing with the children in some cases), one or two couples are strolling and the taverns are doing a brisk trade. So what, you ask, is the difference between a tavern and an inn? Simply put, inns offer accommodation while pubs and taverns offer only drinks and outdoor games.
Since we're in the vicinity of Fleet Street how about dropping in for a couple of drinks at the Red Lion and spend a while eavesdropping on conversations? I'm not a beer drinker myself, but I'm sure they'll have cider on tap.
The interior of the Red Lion is whitewashed, and sweet with the smell of clean sawdust on the floor, and not long after we settle ourselves in a comfortable corner, a ballad-seller starts making the rounds. I doubt he'll find much business in here though; on a warm evening like this most folks prefer the benches outside, or the shade behind the building where I think I hear the sound of a game of bowls in progress.
Here comes our cider; a generous stoneware jug and two sturdy pottery tankards with the sign of the Lion impressed into the clay.One of the songs the ballad-seller is offering is an appeal by a lover to a robin - a bird often identified with the English character, and particularly that of the cockney Londoner. I like the fancy of the song, and the name William Cornyshe rings a bell so I part with a farthing for one of the printed sheets and invite the ballad-seller to join us for a drink. The printing is fresh enough that it still leaves a slight black stain on my fingers.
The imprint on the sheet confirms that the year is 1504 and I half-remember something about Cornyshe being jailed that year.
Master Whitesmith, our ballad-seller knows the story. It seems that Master Cornyshe was accused (probably falsely) by a party or parties unnamed, to the King, of lewd and unseemly practices with some of the boys charged to his care as Master of the Children of the Royal Chapel. There is a rumour to the effect that Cornyshe wrote a poem intended to win him back to the King's favour, and that is the reason he is no longer in the ward of the Fleet Prison.
Moreover, Master Whitesmith tells us of his own experience of the Fleet Prison when fortune turned her face from him and he was imprisoned for his debt. Had it not been for the generosity of his brother, he might have been there still.
X:18                         % number
T:Ah Robin, gentle Robin     % title
C:William Cornyshe           % composer
O:Http://arenai.free.fr      % origin.
M:4/2                        % meter
N:The original meter for this piece was "imperfect time", or
N:Four beats in the bar.
L:1/4                        % length of shortest note
Q:                           % tempo
K:F                          % key
V:1 name="Descant" sname="D." % voice 1
V:2 name="1st Tenor" sname="T.1"
V:3 name="2nd Tenor" sname="T.2"
%==================2===============3=================4===============5
[V:1] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2 |
w:Ah Robin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:2] Z4 |
[V:3] Z4 |
%==================6===============7=================8===============9
[V:1] Z4 |
[V:2] G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2 |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2 |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
%=================10===============11================12================13
[V:1] d2 g2 f2 z2  | d2 d g f2 z2   | F>F B B A A d d | f e d c =B2 z G |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. My
[V:2] B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2   | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2   |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2  | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2   |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
%====================14===============15====================16
[V:1] d>d c B f>e d c | _e d d c d2 z2 | F>F B B A A/ A/ d d |
w:La-dy is un-kind y-wis, A-lack why is she so? lov'th a-no-ther bet-ter than me and
[V:2] G2 _E2 D2 z2    | G2 F _E D2 z2  | D D D D F F G G     |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:3] B2 G2 A2 z2     | B2 A G A2 z2   | A>A d d c>c B B     |
w:Ah Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
%===================17=============18==============19================20
[V:1] F E D C =B2 z2 | d2 g2 f2 z2  |d2 d g f2 z    | F>F B B A A d d |
w:yet she will say no. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin, tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:2] A A D D G2 z2  | B2 G2 A2 z2  | B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
[V:3] c c A A G2 z2  | G2 _E2 D2 z2 | G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin. Tell me how thy le-man doth and
%====================21================22==============23
[V:1] F E D C =B2 z G | d>d c B d>d G G | d>d d c d z G |
w:thou shalt know of mine. I can-not think such dou-ble-ness for I find wo-men true, in
[V:2] c c A A G2 z2   | G2 _E2 D2 z2    | G2 F _E D2 z2 |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin,
[V:3] A A D D G2 z2   | B2 G2 A2 z2     | B2 A G A2 z2  |
w:thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin, gen-tle Ro-bin,
%====================24===============25=============26
[V:1] d>d B B A>A d d | f e d c =B2 z2 | d2 g2 f2 z2  |
w:faith my la-dy lov'th me well; she will change for no new. Ah, Ro-bin,
[V:2] D D D D F F G G | A A D D G2 z2  | B2 G2 A2 z2  |
w:Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin,
[V:3] A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G2 z2  | G2 _E2 D2 z2 |
w:Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine. Ah, Ro-bin,
%==================27================28=============|]
[V:1] d2 d g f2 z2  | F>F B B A A d d | f e d c =B4 |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:2] B2 A G A2 z2  | A>A d d c>c B B | c c A A G4  |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
[V:3] G2 F _E D2 z2 | D D D D F F G G | A A D D G4  |]
w:gen-tle Ro-bin, Tell me how thy le-man doth and thou shalt know of mine.
Click on the gramophone to listen to a recording.














To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].

  

London's Burning!

September 2nd 2007 is the 341st anniversary of the outbreak of the Fire of London, which was witnessed and described by Samuel Pepys in his Diary. Some historians suggest that, while the fire wreaked terrible devastation on the city, it also burned away much of the slum accommodation that had provided a haven for the flea-carrying rats which acted as a significant vector for plague outbreaks.

In World War II while the Nazis battled to raze London as a symbol of British pride, the population of the city endured nightly air raids often sheltering in underground (Tube) stations, or hastily erected family shelters in their gardens.

The resilience of the spirit of Londoners has long been celebrated, and whether recovering from a devastating city-wide fire, or the aftermath of a terrorist bomb in Hyde Park, the attitude of the Londoner seems to be summed up by the typical image of someone taking in a shocked neighbour to sit down with a cup of hot, sweet tea before sorting out the practical details.

X:62 % number
T:Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner % title
C: % composer
O: % origin.
M:4/4 % meter
L:1/4 % length of shortest note
Q:180 % tempo
K:A % key
V:1 % voice 1
zA =G>=F | D z _E<=E | =c2 =A2 | G2 =A2 | z A G
w:May-be it's be-cause I'm a Lon-don-er, that I love Lon-don so, May-be it's
GA | =G>=F D z | A>G =G>=F | D2 A A/=G/ | =F =G2 z |
w:be-cause I'm a Lon-don-er, That I think of 'er, wher-ev-er I go,
GA | =G>=F D2 | _E<=E =c2 | A2 G2 | A2 z z |
w:I get a fun-ny feel-in' in-side o' me Just walk-in' up an' down,
=c>A =c>A | =c2 _B>A | d>_B =G2 | d2 =c2 | d2 A2 | =G2 =F z |]
w:May-be it's be-cause I'm a Lon-don-er, That I love Lon-don Town!

To convert the code above to sheet music, or listen to the tunes, copy the code for a single song, then paste it here and [submit].