Percy French
[4] Although he lost copyright, French always claimed authorship and did so on the sleeve of his song "Slattery's Mounted Fut" (1889) and in every issue of the weekly The Jarvey.
Brendan O'Dowda claimed to have discovered, via the popularity of versions of the song at the American military academies in the 1980s, that French had written the lyrics while at Trinity College.
[3] French graduated from TCD first being conferred with a BA degree in 1885 as a civil engineer in 1880 and after a stint as an apprentice engineer on the Midlands Railway with fellow entertainer Charles Mansergh (later Charles Manners of the Moody-Manners Opera Company) French joined the Board of Works in County Cavan as an Inspector of Drains in 1883.
The volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883 while French was in Cavan, and the particles of volcanic ash caused dramatic sunsets all over the world.
French exhibited his pictures in the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and sometimes gave them short lyrical poems for titles, such as "Only the sullen seas that flow/ And ebb forever more,/ But tarry awhile sad heart and, lo!/ A light on that lonely shore".
French's fey sense of humour caused him to make facetious replies to the letters to the editor, and Mecredy returned to a storm of raging withdrawals of subscriptions.
[citation needed] When The Jarvey failed, French's long and successful career as a songwriter and entertainer began.
It was sponsored by the Oriel Gallery and bears another witticism of French's: "Remember me is all I ask, / And if that memory proves a task, forget".
His first wife, Ethel Armitage-Moore contributed a regular weekly gossip and fashion column to The Jarvey as well as exceptionally beautiful drawings.
French is renowned today for composing and singing comic songs and gained considerable distinction with such songs as Phil the Fluther's Ball,[5] Slattery's Mounted Foot, and The Mountains of Mourne[6] (this last was one of several written with his friend, stage partner and fellow composer, Houston Collisson).
According to the story, French arrived late at the court, and when questioned by the judge he responded "Your honour, I travelled by the West Clare Railway", resulting in the case being thrown out.
He died from pneumonia in Formby, in the dioceses of Liverpool, England at the home of his cousin, Canon Richardson of Green Lea, College Avenue, on 24 January 1920.
[citation needed] In 1988, The Oriel Gallery sponsored a seat erected by the OPW opposite 35 Mespil Road, on the canal, Dublin.
[11] In March 2020, a memorial to French was unveiled in Newcastle, County Down, at the site of the Slieve Donard Hotel at the foot of the Mountains of Mourne, to mark the centenary of his death.
On 20 September 2005, the Percy French watercolour landscape Where ever I go my heart turns back to the County Mayo was sold by Dublin auctioneers Whyte's for a then-record price of €44,000.
[citation needed] Oliver Nulty (d. 2005) established the Oriel Gallery in Clare Street, Dublin in 1868, which opened with a Percy French and George Russell exhibition.
