Listen to the Mockingbird

Composer	Hawthorne, Alice (Septimus Winner)
Lyricist	Hawthorne, Alice (Septimus Winner)
Year Published	1855
Type	Somebody's Darling
Playing Time
Comments	"We had a fine serenade at headquarters... and whiskey punch flowed freely. General Kearney's favorite air is "The Mocking Bird" and the band leaders know that if this tune is well played they will be furnished whiskey "ad libitum." So we have this fine piece played over repeatedly, or as long as the musicians can see his instrument." Eye of the Storm, p. 109.
	"Listen to the Mocking Bird' was written by Septimus Winner, the man who also gave us "Whispering Hope," "Ten Little Indians," the words to "Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone," and a score of other songs. He was twenty-seven years old at the time, a music teacher and the owner of a music store in Philadelphia. Winner was acquainted with a young Negro boy, Dick Milburn (called Whistling Dick), a beggar who collected coins for his whistling and guitar playing on the streets. His whistling often turned to a beautiful imitation of a mocking bird, and this attracted Winner's attention and thought. It gave him an idea for a song and he promptly went to work on it. He finished "Listen to the Mocking Bird," gave Whistling Dick a job in his store, and published the composition in April, 1855, using the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne. Pseudonyms were common practice in those days, for example Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Artemus Ward (Charles Browne). Winner chose Hawthorne after his mother's maiden name. He never explained the "Alice" part of it. Within months this song hit all parts of our nation and people everywhere went wild over it, especially in the South where the mocking bird is a common sight. For years afterwards Southern mothers named their baby girls Hally (or Hallie) after this song. President Abraham Lincoln said of this song "It is as sincere as the laughter of a little girl at play," and King Edward VII of England remarked, "I whistled 'Listen To the Mocking Bird' when I was a little boy." The song became popular all over Europe and it is estimated that by 1905 total sheet copies sold ran approximately twenty million. This song's immense popularity has struck solidly for over a century. It is truly one of our old-time, all-time song hits. The American Song Treasury, p. 141.
	Annie folded the newspaper as if it were indeed sheet music and placed it behind "Listen to the Mocking Bird," a Song Especially Written for President Buchanan's Niece. Lincoln, A Novel, p. 16.
	Buchanan was a bachelor. His niece, who had been with him in London, presided over the Executive Mansion. Though youthful, Miss Harriet Lane had poise and social experience, and she was vastly admired. Lace berthas became the fashion because she wore them, a revenue cutter was given her name, and a new song, "Listen to the Mockingbird," was dedicated to her. Reveille in Washington, p. 21
Lyrics	I'm dreaming now of Hallie my sweet Hallie my sweet Hallie I'm dreaming now of my Hallie for the thought of her is one that never dies. Listen to the mockingbird Listen to the mockingbird The mockingbird still singing o'er her grave Listen to the mockingbird Listen to the mockingbird Still singing where the weeping willows wave