Andrew McCrie - 19th Century

Dr. Pitt-Payne in London UK - 12 Sept 2001

It was many and many a year ago,
in a city by the sea,
that a man there lived
whom I happened to know,
by the name of Andrew McCrie;
And this man he slept in another room,
but ground and had meals with me:
it was many and many a year ago,
in a city by the sea,
in a city by the sea.

I was an ass, and he was an ass,
in this city by the sea
but we ground in a way
that was more than a grind;
I and Andrew McCrie,
in a way that the idle semis next door
declared that was shameful to see:
it was many and many a year ago,
in a city by the sea,
in a city by the sea.

This was the reason that,
one dark night,
in this city by the sea,
a stone flew in at the window,
hitting the milk jug and Andrew McCrie;
and once some lowbred tertians came,
and bore him away from me,
and shoved him into a private house,
where the people were having tea,
where the people were having tea.

Professors, not half so well
up in their work,
went envying him and me;
Yes! that was the reason,
I always thought
(and Andrew agreed with me),
why they ploughed us both
at the end of the year,
and killing poor Andrew McCrie:
it was many and many a year ago,
in a city by the sea,
in a city by the sea.

But his ghost is more terrible
than the ghosts
of many more famous than he;
and neither visits to foreign coasts,
nor tonics, can ever set free
two wellknown Profs
from the haunting wrath
of the injured Andrew McCrie:
it was many and many a year ago,
in a city by the sea,
in a city by the sea.

For at night, as they dream,
they frequently scream,
"Have mercy, Mister McCrie!"
And at morn they will rise
with bloodshot eyes,
and the very first thing they will see,
when they dare to descend
to their coffee and rolls,
sitting down by the scuttle of coals,
with a volume,
a volume of notes on its knee,
is the spectre of Andrew McCrie,
Is the spectre of Andrew McCrie.

Soft karaoke
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Andrew McCrie - 19th Century

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Andrew McCrie - 19th Century
written and composed by John Farmer
from the unpublished remains of Edgar Allan Poe
sequenced for Piano by Dr. Pitt-Payne in London UK
on Wednesday 12 Sept 2001 at 11.10
in association with Doug Grierson
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© James Pitt-Payne, London UK, 2001
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