I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You)

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926; " Honestly, Carol, I never knew I had it in me to love somebody like I love you. I'm afraid those are more or less the words of a comic song, but in that case I take off my hat to the comic song - It expresses exactly my state of mind. I can't believe that anybody loved like me." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 18).

The song Lowry is referring to is I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You) written by Tom Pitts, Raymond B. Egan and Roy K. Marsh published in 1920:


I never knew I could love anybody, 
Honey, like I'm loving you; 
I couldn't realize what a pair of eyes 
And a baby smile could do; 
(Oh tell me why) I can't sleep, 
(O tell me why) I can't eat, 
(and why) I never knew 
a single soul could be so sweet, 
I never knew I could love anybody, 
Honey, like I'm loving you.

Fascinating Rhythm 1924

Lowry refers to the above song in letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "every time I hear "Fascinating Rhythm" it reminds me of that evening by the gate" (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27)

The song is from the musical Lady, Be Good written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, featured music by George and Ira Gershwin. It debuted at the Liberty Theatre on December 1, 1924.

It is a musical comedy about a brother and his sister who are out of money and each eager to sacrifice him- or herself to help the other. It originally starred brother and sister performers Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire. It ran for 330 performances in the original Broadway run.

What is difficult to gauge is how Lowry would have been aware of the song? Perhaps, he picked up the song via his elder brothers Stuart and Russell or did he hear it on a visit to Carol Brown's house Hilthorpe in Caldy or could he conceivably seen the musical at the Empire in London? The last premise is unlikely as he was writing to Carol in May 1926 and the musical only opened Prince of Wales Theatre, London on 14 April, 1926.

We must assume that Lowry's reference to "by the gate" refers to the gate outside Carol's home Hilthorpe in Caldy where Carol and Malc spent sometime together in 1925 or 26. We can only speculate the significance of the moment.

Hard Hearted Hannah 1924

Lowry possibly refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926 when he compares the song to the Reveler's song 'Oh Miss Hannah!'; "If ever you'e going to get a new record there, get 'Oh Miss Hannah!' - great fun, believe me. And think of me while you play it if you can and reflect that it has a better moral than H.H.H." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27); this reference comes after Lowry had recalled; "You accuse yourself of being a Vamp from Savannah. Why?...."  (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 25)

"Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)" is a popular song from Tin Pan Alley. The music was written by Milton Ager, the lyrics by Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, and Charles Bates. Hard Hearted Hannah tells in humorous fashion the story of a "vamp" or femme fatale from Savannah, Georgia "the meanest gal in town." Hannah is "a gal who loves to see men suffer." Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry reference to the lyrics centre around him realising that his love for Carol Brown is not being reciprocated. Perhaps Lowry recall the song about Hannah as he muses on his lost love while writing to Carol. Feeling guilty he prefers to recall the Revelers song 'Oh Miss Hannah! rather than the harsh sentiment contained in the lyrics of 'Hard Hearted Hannah' below:


In old Savannah, I said Savannah
The weather there is nice and warm
The climate's of the southern brand
But here's what I don't understand

They've got a gal there, a pretty gal there
Who's colder than an arctic storm
Got a heart just like a stone
Even nice men leave her alone

They call her, "Hard hearted Hannah"
The vamp of Savannah
The meanest gal in town
Leather is tough but Hannah's heart is tougher
She's a gal who loves to see men suffer

To tease them and thrill 'em
To torture and kill 'em
Is her delight they say

I saw her at the seashore with a great big pan
There was Hannah pourin' water on a drownin' man

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G A
( From: http://www.elyrics.net )

The call her, "Hard hearted Hannah"
The vamp of Savannah
The meanest gal in town
Talk of your cold refrigerating mamas
Brother she's a polar bears pajamas

To tease them and thrill 'em
To torture and kill 'em
Is her delight they say

An evening spent with Hannah sitting on your knees
Is like travelin' through Alaska in your BVDs

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G A

Can you imagine a woman as cold as Hannah?
She's got the right name, "The vamp of Savannah"
Anytime a woman can take a great big pan
Start pourin' water on a drownin' man

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G-A

Ooh, she's sweet as sour milk

Lowry again refers to the subtitle of the song in another letter to Carol Brown dated May

Revelers I'm Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter dated May 1926 to Carol Brown; "They also record 'I'm Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston' (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27).

Read more about the Revelers on Malcolm Lowry @19th Hole

The Revelers "Oh Miss Hannah" 1925

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "Talking about Hannahs. There's another tune, "Oh Miss Hannah!" on the other side of "Collegiate", sung in the most original manner by the Revellers on HMV. It's absolutely the world's best sung tune, and they sing it in Fox Trot Time as though they were a band. (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27). Note Lowry's mis-spelling of the Revelers.

Oh, Miss Hannah Fox Trot (Hollongsworth-Deppen) played by the Revelers Victor Record Company with Orthophonic Scroll label 19796-A Electrically Recorded in 09.15.1925 with the A-side Dinah. The 78 playing record was issued in England on the HMV imprint. The 78 would appear to have been a hit with the young Lowry while at the Leys School in Cambridge.

The Revelers were an American quintet (four close harmony singers and a pianist) popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Revelers' recordings of "Dinah", "Old Man River", "Valencia", "Baby Face", "Blue Room", "The Birth of the Blues", "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba", and many more, became popular in the United States and then Europe in the late 1920s. Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Susquehanna Mammy

A fictional song created by Lowry for Hugh's repertoire in Chapter 6 of Under The Volcano; "Well, he had other songs, the tides to some of which, Susquehanna Mammy, Slumbering Wabash, Mississippi Sunset, Dismal Swamp, etc., were perhaps revelatory, and that of one at least, I'm Homesick  for Being Homesick (of being homesick for home), Vocal Fox Trot, profound, if not positively Wordsworthian." (Pg. 169).

The song title related to Lowry's own juvenile song writing but is possibly inspired by James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna: a descriptive tale which makes reference to the American river and uses the derogatory word mammy - "a black woman serving as a nurse to white children especially formerly in the southern United States" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Lowry may have also had in mind the Joe Young/Sam Lewis song "My Mammy" plus Conrad Aiken's recollections of having a black nurse.

The California Ramblers Dromedary Columbia 1925

Lowry mentions the above track to Carol Brown in a letter to her in June 1926 when he realises that his love is not going to be reciprocated by Carol.

Lowry asks her to remember the song on the other side of "Just A Little Drink" - on Columbia. This can only refer to the California Ramblers track "Dromedary" which is the other side of the 78. I am not certain why he refers to the track as a reference to be be remembered by except that a dromedary is an Arabian camel and Malc used the alias 'Camel' when he wrote for the Leys School magazine Fortnightly.

One of the most popular jazz outfits of the 1920s, the California Ramblers were also certainly the most prolific. Though signed with Columbia Records they waived all royalties with the label for the right to record for other companies under differing names. Throughout the decade they recorded for practically every label in the United States, Canada and Great Britain using 111 different pseudonyms, however they most often worked under the Rambler's title and the nom de plume ''Golden Gate Orchestra.'' Read more on Malcolm Lowry @19th Hole

The Campbells Are Coming

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine; "the Campbells are coming, yo ho, yo ho: the Campbells are coming along the grey familiar fields to happy go." (Pg. 44).

A song written by Robbie Burns. The original song for, The Campbells are comin dates back to the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. In the 1715 rebellion the 2nd Duke of Argyll, John Campbell, led the government forces against the Jacobite forces. However, in this song, Burns alludes to the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots in Lochleven Castle in 1567. In this instance, ‘Great Argyle’, is the 5th Earl of Argyll, who made an effort to rescue her.


The Campbells are comin, Oho, Oho!
The Campbells are comin, Oho, Oho!
The Campbells are comin to bonie Lochleven,
The Campbells are comin Oho, Oho!

Upon the Lomonds I lay, I lay,
Upon the Lomonds I lay, I lay,
I looked down to bonie Lochleven,
And saw three bonie perches play.

Great Argyle he goes before,
He maks his cannons and guns to roar,
Wi' sound o' trumpet, pipe and drum
The Campbells are comin Oho, Oho!

The Campbells they are a' in arms
Their loyal faith and truth to show,
Wi' banners rattling in the wind
The Campbells are comin Oho, Oho!

The Campbells are comin, Oho, Oho!
The Campbells are comin, Oho, Oho!
The Campbells are comin to bonie Lochleven,
The Campbells are comin Oho, Oho!

The song is connected with the siege of Lucknow in the Indian rebellion, 1857. Nana Sahib had massacred women and children, and while the survivors were expecting instant death, a Scotch woman lying ill on the ground heard the pibroch, and exclaimed, “Dinna ye hear it? Dinna ye hear it? The pipes o’ Havelock sound.” And soon afterwards the rescue was accomplished. E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

Derby Castle Theatre, Isle of Man

Derby Castle Theatre once stood at the North end of Douglas Bay. The original buildings were 2 houses masquerading as one larger one. Originally built for Major Pollock by J. Skillicorn of Onchan probably to a design of John Robinson.

The buildings were acquired in 1877 by Douglas advocate Mr. A.N.Laughton who built a dance hall in its grounds. The dancehall, designed by W.J. Rennison was some 194 feet by 71 ft and capable of accommodating 2000 dancers. Laughton financed the project by forming the Derby Castle Company in 1878 with initially £15,000 in shares (by 1889 £20,000) subscribed to by six Douglas businessmen, including J.A. Brown of the IoM Times who was soon to start his own rival Palace complex and who ultimately became the controlling power behind the Palace and Derby Castle Company.

By the 1960's the complex was outdated and run down - it was bought by Douglas corporation in the late 1960's, demolished and the ill-fated Summerland complex built on the site. Read more

Lowry refers to theatre in his novel Ultramarine; "My missus’s tightly bound, she’s all tightly bound. Harry Weldon in 1925 singing that at the Derby Castle, Douglas, his audience bringing him back for his curtain over and over again." (Pg. 116). This reference probably relates to a Lowry family holiday made in 1923 to the island.

Harry Weldon

Lowry refers to Harry Weldon in his novel Ultramarine; "My missus’s tightly bound, she’s all tightly bound. Harry Weldon in 1925 singing that at the Derby Castle, Douglas, his audience bringing him back for his curtain over and over again." (Pg. 116).

The above song is an unidentified one performed by Harry Weldon at the Derby Castle theatre in Douglas on the Isle of Man. This reference probably relates to a Lowry family holiday made in 1923 to the island.

Harry Weldon was a big star in music hall and variety, and first appeared in London in 1900, coining the catchphrase ‘S’No Use!’ and creating a popular song from it. Weldon initially rose to fame as a member of Fred Karno’s company when he played opposite Charlie Chaplin in the sketch ‘The Football Match’. Weldon then used the character of Stiffy, the goalkeeper, as the mainstay of his solo act, and developed other characters, including his boxing skit ‘The White Hope’ Apparently he cut a very strange figure with his centre-parted wig, eccentric clothes, eyes that always seemed to be shut and a voice of whistling sibilance. He had a unique style, and frequently used the conductor of the orchestra as an extra part in his performance. Harry Weldon’s conversational style and his use of the absurd may have appealed to the young Lowry. He worked until he died in 1930 aged 49. Read more

Lowry’s early letters have several references to music hall stars such as Stanley Lupino and Milton Hayes. We can only presume from the detail of the letters that Lowry was aware of these stars because he had seen them either on trips to local theatres or when he was on holiday on the Isle of Man or in Devon. He mentions in his works several local theatres with music hall traditions, including the Argyle and Hippodrome theatres in Birkenhead and the Olympia in Liverpool.

The use of these popular musical references demonstrates Lowry’s awareness of the music hall tradition. He uses them to underpin the authenticity of the ‘working-class’ roots of the sailors’ language in the Ultramarine, though they are often based on his own experiences. Commentators on Lowry have often overstated his middle-class origins, forgetting that his parents’ and brothers’ tastes were ‘lowbrow’, an indication of the family’s working-class roots on Merseyside. Lowry may have been an ‘outsider’ on board the Pyrrhus, undergoing an awkward transition from public schoolboy to university student. However, on his nights out with Janet to the cinema and the theatre he had enjoyed the same forms of popular entertainment familiar to the rest of the crew.

Liza

September 2nd, 1929 playbill for "SHOW GIRL"

"Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn. It was introduced in 1929 by Ruby Keeler (as Dixie Dugan) in Florenz Ziegfeld's musical Show Girl. The stage performances were accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. On the show's opening night, Keeler's husband and popular singer Al Jolson suddenly stood up from his seat in the third row and sang a chorus of the song, much to the surprise of the audience and Gershwin himself.

Lowry perhaps is referring to the above song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including God Save The King; "We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89). However, the song is not contemporaneous to the setting of the novel - 1927 having been introduced in 1929. Lowry did use other material which was not contemporaneous to the setting of the novel e.g. Love's Crucifixion

Sweet Georgia Brown

Lowry alludes to the song in a letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "Oh - you Sweet Miss Carolina Brown!" (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 26).

Sweet Georgia Brown is a jazz standard and pop tune written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard (music) and Kenneth Casey (lyrics). The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925 by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week No. 1 for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. As Bernie's then nationally famous orchestra did much to popularize the number, Pinkard cut Bernie in for a share of the tune's royalties by giving him a co-writer credit to the song. Read more on Wikipedia

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

The music was written by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin", actually a collective pseudonym for the writers James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent. The number was debuted in the Broadway musical The Passing Show of 1918, and it was introduced by Helen Carrington. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine; " 'And then I went to the Colonial. I lived there for three weeks with a black cow....fighting drunk I was all the time and all the niggers playing "I'm forever blowing Bubbles on their bloody banjos-'"

God Save The King

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including God Save The King; "We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89).

"God Save the Queen" (alternatively "God Save the King") is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The words and title are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, e.g., replacing "Queen" with "King", "she" with "he", and so forth, when a king reigns. The author of the tune is unknown, and it may originate in plainchant, but a 1619 attribution to John Bull is sometimes made. Read more on Wikipedia

Deutschland uber Alles

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including  Deutschland uber Alles; "We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89).

The "Deutschlandlied" ("Song of Germany", German pronunciation; also known as "Das Lied der Deutschen" or "The Song of the Germans"), has been used wholly or partially as the national anthem of Germany since 1922. Since World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third stanza has been used as the national anthem.

The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics of "Das Lied der Deutschen" to Haydn's melody, lyrics that were considered revolutionary at the time.

The song is also well known by the opening words and refrain of the first stanza, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (literally, "Germany, Germany above all"), but this has never been its title. Read more on Wikipedia

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow By William Henry Boucher 

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including For He's A Jolly Good Fellow; "We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89).

The tune was originally composed the night after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. It became a French folktune and was later popularized by Marie Antoinette after she heard one of her maids singing it. The melody became so popular in France that it was used to represent the French defeat in Ludwig van Beethoven's composition "Wellington's Victory" Opus 91 written in 1813.

The melody also became popular in the United Kingdom, for example as a harpsichord exercise, and by the 19th century it was being sung with the words "For he's a jolly good fellow." British and American versions of the lyrics differ. "And so say all of us" is typically British, while "which nobody can deny" is regarded as the American version. Read more on Wikipedia

The Bastard King of England

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including The Bastard King of England; "We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar, he waved his glass and sang, 'Back to the Bastard King of England', again and again, to the inscrutable pleasure of Confucius." (Pg. 89).

According to Jan Gabrial, this was a favourite song of Lowry's; "Then Malc arrived with Julian and spotting the ukulele, attacked a bawdy favorite song of his, "The Bastard King of England,'' with much gusto. (Inside The Volcano Pg. 44).

The song has been attributed, probably falsely, to Rudyard Kipling. Ed Cray tells us, "As the story goes, Rudyard Kipling wrote 'The Bastard King of England' (pronounced En-ga-land') and that authorship cost him his poet laureate's knighthood. It is too bad that the attribution is apparently spurious; 'The Bastard King' would undoubtedly be Kipling's most popular work." The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs. The earliest  documented date of the song is 1927 though it probably dates at least to the First World War. The song about disease and sex may have appealed to Lowry's obsession with syphilis.

There are a host of different versions. - one version as published in The Folksinger's Wordbook compiled By Fred and Irwin Silber (p. 197)

THE BASTARD KING OF ENGLAND

Oh, the minstrels sing of an English king, of many long years ago,
Who ruled his land with an iron hand, though his morals were weak, and low.
His only outer garment was a dirty undershirt
That managed to hide the royal pride, but never hid the dirt.

CHORUS:
He was wild and woolly, and full of fleas
And he had his women by twos and threes.
God bless the Bastard king of England.

Oh, the Queen of Spain was an amorous Jane, a lascivious wench was she,
Who loved to play in a royal way with the King across the sea.
She often sent a message by royal messenger,
To ask the king to come and spend a night or two with her.

Now, the king he had a rival bold whose name was Philip of France.
Who swore he'd stop this carrying on by the seat of his royal pants.
So off he sent straightway to Spain to steal the Queen away;
And foil the King with a royal ring and all on a summer's day.

When the news of this foul deed was heard within the royal halls.
The King he swore, by the shirt he wore, he'd have his rival's ___neck.
So he sent for the Duke of Zippety-Zap, who had a dose of the clippety-clap,
To pass it on to Philip of France, and all on a summer's day.

So, the Queen grew very wary when she next saw Philip of France,
She decided that the Frenchman had gone and lost his chance.
So then she straightway called our King and offered him her hand,
And the sound of royal wedding bells was heard throughout the land.

They had a royal wedding – all his subjects wished him well,
And the dancers danced without their pants, and so did the king as well.
His only outer garment was a dirty yellow shirt,
With which he tried to hide his hide but he couldn't hide the dirt.

Mademoiselle from Armentières

The tune of the song was believed to be popular in the French army in the 1830s, and the original words told of the encounter of an inn-keeper's daughter, named Mademoiselle de Bar le Luc, with two German officers. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the tune was resurrected, and again in 1914 when the British soldiers got to know of it. It is also known by its ersatz French line, Hinky Dinky Parley Voo (variant: Parlay). There are a couple of claims to having written the lyrics for this song: e.g. Edward Rowland and a Canadian composer, Lt. Glitz Rice, is one pair; Harry Carlton and Joe Tunbridge is another. Lastly, many also refer to the famous British songwriter Harry Wincott. The first recording of the song occurred in 1915 by Jack Charman. (Listen to this version) Read more on Wikipedia There was also a film entitled Mademoiselle from Armentières  released in 1926

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including Mademoiselle from Armentières; We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89).

One version of the lyrics:

Mademoiselle from Armentières
Par ley voo,
Mademoiselle from Armentières
Par ley voo,
Mademoiselle from Armentières,
She hasn't been kissed for forty years,
Hinky, Dinky Par ley voo.

Our top kick in Armentières
Soon broke the spell of forty years,

O Mademoiselle from gay Paree,
You certainly did play hell with me.

One night I had a "beaucoup" jack,
Till a Mademoiselle got on my track.

The Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire,
She never washed her underwear.

The colonel got the Croix de Guerr,
The sunofagun was never there.

Twas a hell of a war as we recall,
But still, 'twas better than no war at all

Mademoiselle from Armentières
Par ley voo,
Mademoiselle from Armentières
Par ley voo,
You might forget the gas and shell
You'll never forget the Mademoiselle
Hinky, Dinky Par ley voo.

See Hinky Dinky For further details 

B. Feldman & Co.

Formed in 1896 by Albert James Feldman (1874-1945). The firm were based at 125/127/129 Shaftsbury Avenue, London.  Feldman thrived by taking up the English rights to such American songs as Alexander’s Ragtime Band and during WW1 he had a huge hit with  It’s A Long Way To Tipperary.  In 1925 he bought up  Herman Darewski Co, and in 1953 the company was acquired by Francis, Day & Hunter.

Feldman published one of Lowry's songs I've Said Goodbye To Shanghai which he co-wrote with Ronald Hill.

Worton David Ltd.

Worton David Ltd. was the company which published one of Lowry's songs 'Three Little Dog-gone Mice' that he co-wrote with Ronald Hill. Worton David Ltd was based at 6 New Compton Street, London.

H. Worton David was born in 1873 and died 1940. He was one of the few financially successful songwriters, astute enough to create his own music publishing company, H. Worton David wrote such classics as Wilkie Bard’s I Want To Sing In Opera (with Bert Lee, 1910); Clarice Mayne’s Nursie Nursie (with Bert Lee, 1911); Ella Retford’s They’re All Single At The Seaside (with C.W. Murphy, 1911); Florrie Forde’s Hello, Hello, Who’s Your Lady Friend? (with Harry Fragson and Bert Lee, 1913); and her Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy (with C.W. Murphy, 1914). He also wrote Are We Downhearted? No! (with Lawrence Wright, 1914); Heart Of A Rose (with Lawrence Wright as “Horatio Nicholls”, 1918); That Old Fashioned Mother Of Mine (with Lawrence Wright as “Horatio Nicholls”, 1919); Playthings (with Lawrence Wright as “Horatio Nicholls”, 1918); and A Rose In A Garden Of Weeds (with R.B. Saxe, 1926).

David teamed up with Fred Godfrey for a large number of songs, mostly in 1914 and 1915, often in partnership with fellow writer/publisher Lawrence Wright, and again in the mid-1920s. Their biggest hit undoubtedly was It Takes An Irish Heart To Sing An Irish Song (1914), which Florrie Forde sang with great success. Read more here

He maybe the model for Bolowski, the music publisher in Lowry's novel Under The Volcano whose office is in Old Compton Street in the novel.