PABLO FANQUE’S CIRCUS ROYAL
TOWN-MEADOWS, ROCHDALE Grandest Night of the Season!
AND POSITIVELY THE
LAST NIGHT BUT THREE!
BEING FOR THE
BENEFIT OF MR. KITE,
(LATE OF WELLS’S CIRCUS) AND
MR. J. HENDERSON,
THE CELEBRATED SOMERSET THROWER!
WIRE DANCER, VAULTER, RIDER, etc.
On TUESDAY Evening, February 14, 1843.
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Mssrs. KITE and HENDERSON, in announcing the following Entertainments ensure the Public that this Night’s Production will be one of the most splendid ever produced in this Town, having been some days in preparation.
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| Mr. Kite will, for this night only, introduce the CELEBRATED HORSE, ZANTHUS! Well known to be one of the best Broke Horses IN THE WORLD!!!
Mr. HENDERSON will undertake the arduous Task of
Mr. KITE will appear, for the |
Mr. HENDERSON will, for the first time in Rochdale, introduce his extraordinary TRAMPOLINE LEAPS AND SOMERSETS! Over Men & Horses, through Hoops, over Garters and lastly through a Hogshead of REAL FIRE! In this branch of the profession Mr. H challenges THE WORLD!
For particulars see Bills of the day. |
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer?
Come on Chuckles. Give us a harder one.
“A splendid time is guaranteed for all
And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill.”
The answer is Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite by the Beatles, written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney.
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! On the Beatles 1967 SGT Pepper album
Hokumboy wins. There’s no prize, but he wins. Here’s more information courtesy of sideshowworld.com
Pablo Fanque, Mr. Kite and the Henderson’s were never more than colorful names that inspired John Lennon.
Records show that 150 years ago, they were real stars in the circus world. Mr. Kite was William Kite, son of circus proprietor James Kite, and an all-round performer. He is believed to have worked in Pablo Fanque’s Circus from 1843 to 1845.
The Henderson’s were wire-walker, equestrian, tramplinist and clown John Henderson and his wife Agnes, the daughter of circus owner Henry Hengler. The Henderson’s traveled all over Europe and Russia during the 1840′s and 1850′s. The ‘somersets’ which Mr. Henderson performed on ‘solid ground’ were somersaults, ‘garters’ were banners held between two people and a ‘trampoline’ in those days was a wooden springboard rather than stretched canvas.
Pablo Fanque was a multi-talented performer who became the first black circus proprietor in Britain. He was born William Darby in Norwich in 1796, He was orphaned at an early age, he apprenticed with William Batty, the owner of a traveling circus. Under Batty’s tutelage, he became proficient at horse riding, rope dancing and acrobatics, and soon joined the troupe of Andrew Ducrow, who ran one of the most famous circus troupes of the time.
He rejoined Batty in 1834, and performed at the Royal Amphitheatre, Liverpool. In 1836 he was described as the ‘loftiest jumper in England’. In 1841 Fanque left Batty’s circus to start his own show with two horses. W.F. Wallet, the famous clown, joined him and they traveled north, opening at Wakefield where Fanque had erected a circus. Over the next six years, “by his own industry and talent, he got together as fine a stud of horses and ponies as any on England”. He married Susannah Marlaw, the daughter of a button maker, and started a family.
In 1847 Fanque made his London debut, which was a highly successful engagement. The London Illustrated News reported that “Mr. Pablo Fanque is an artiste of color, and his steed…we have not only never seen surpassed, but never equaled…Mr. Pablo Fanque was the hit of the evening. The steed in question was Beda, the black mare that Fanque had bought from Batty. That the horse attracted so much attention was testament to Fanque’s extraordinary horse training skills.
After his success in London, he established his troupe in Manchester, outselling all his competition, which enabled him to remain there with Wallet the clown, always performing to full houses. In 1848, his wife Susannah died in a freak accident when part of the pit collapsed. Several planks hit her on the head and she died instantly. She was buried in Leeds’ Woodhouse Cemetery.
Fanque continued to perform throughout the country, with his children, giving open air performances and working with the biggest names in the business, including Young Hernandez (1832-1861) the great American rider, and the clown Henry Brown (1814-1902).
Pablo Fanque died in Stockport in 1871, and was buried in the grave of his first wife. The hearse was preceded by a band, playing the ‘Dead March’, followed by Pablo’s favorite horse, four coaches and his family and friends.
In an age when slavery had not yet been abolished, Fanque appears to have been accepted not only by the circus fraternity, but also by the general public. Thirty years after Fanque’s death, the Rev. Thomas Horne, chaplain of the Showman’s Guild, wrote:
“In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world there is no color line, for, although Pablo Fanque was of African extraction, he speedily made his way to the top of his profession. The camaraderie of the Ring has but one test, ability”. – John Robinson, Sideshow World
Why does hokumboy win? I posted the answer 45 minutes before he did…
Why does hokumboy win? I posted the answer 45 mins before he did but it says my comments are awaiting moderation…
The Amazing Scott is hereby awarded the honor of “Topping the Bill.”
How did I win?
Yeah, I’m wondering too.
I did notice that last night my post was the first published but by the time stamp Scott’s was the first sent. Scott, have you ever posted to Chuck’s blog before? If you hadn’t, that may be why yours was held “for moderation”. In any case, congratulations are in order, Scott.
This week I’ve been listening to a disc of Billboard Charts from the ’60′s. Sure, they bring back memories but they also seem embarrassing in their inane lyrics. From the pop groups, to the folkies, to the crooners trying to hold on to their fleeting fame. They all were singing stuff, that if you really listen, made no sense at all.
As I’ve always said:
“Bob Dylan was the voice of our generation. It’s too bad we never quite knew what the %#?$ he was talking about.”
No, nothing that mysterious. Web Czarina The Astounding Anna had a lot of comments to moderate at that time for various blogs. She also has a lot of other things to do at rrstar.com.
At least that’s her story, and she’s sticking to it.
Attempts by onetime girlfriend Joan Baez and others to get Bob Dylan actively involved in “the movement” were unsuccessful. Bob wanted to be a singer-songwriter who appealed to a wide audience, and he was sensible enough to distance himself sufficiently from extremists such as SDS, etc.
He was more of a commentator on the times, in the grand troubador tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages.
I do not think that today’s “songs” are any better. In fact, often they are worse. Often they are not really songs at all, but just drum machines and rappers who use misyogony and profanity.
Non-musical “music” is largely a result of cutting music and arts instruction is cut from public schools. KIds aren’t learning to play instruments or sing. Rap requires little or no knowledge of music.
Most of the old jazzmen and early rockers learned to play instruments and sing in public high schools. Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Elvis, for instance.
The better the arts instruction in our public schools, the better chance we’ll have of more interesting music.
I won’t even get started on most of the mainstream music we’ve been subjected to lately.
I LOVE A3 (Alabama 3) but just about anything else….. ohgod, I got started.
I’ve really gotten into Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt lately and truly regret not seeing Grappelli when he played the Web. Some of their stuff is beyond amazing and, if you consider Reinhardt had two paralized fingers on his fretting hand, miraculous.
I grew up on Sgt Peppers, I’ve been able to recite it verbatim from memory ever since I was 8. While I deeply respect Bob I can really only handle small doses before it makes my brain explode. I’m a Deadhead, which these days doesn’t just refer to the Grateful Dead but the whole circle of freestyle and improvisational music which brings us around neatly to Django & Stephane again.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I agree about the importance of arts instruction in the local schools- I am the founder and one of organizers for the Catfish John Music festival here in Rockford. After last year’s event we were able to purchase 10 student-sized guitars which were donated (with the help of our partners Toys For Tots and a large jolly man dressed in red) to the afterschool programs at Ellis Arts Academy and Haskell Elem. School.
If you google the event name you’ll find our MySpace page with some great tunes and all the info about this year’s event which will be June 27-28.
Sorry- I didn’t mean to spam your boards. You can spank me if you like =)
I hope you folks don’t think I dislike Dylan.
I’ve been an ardent fan since ’63 and will probably have a few of his tunes played at my funeral. Although I often didn’t understand what he said I did understand what he was saying.
I agree we should have much more of the arts in our schools. Why is it that the arts always seem to get the cuts and the sports get the gravy?
Because sports brings in more $$$ than arts. This town has some of the most wonderful local musicians and almost zero support for the arts. Once again, some of our top talent has to go elsewhere to get recognized. Somehow our priorities got jumbled…
I wonder if they really do once you total the expenses sports involve.
I noticed that the paper had nothing on the Roche’s concert a few weeks ago. Ditto for the concerts of Leo Kottke, Leon Redbone and Patty Larkin over the past years. I guess the smaller concerts are not a priority with the RRStar. I l suppose you’ve got to have a cowboy hat or a tattoo on your face to rate a review.
Add John Prine and Arlo Guthrie to that list- I missed Prine but Arlo was a performance I’ll remember forever. I meant the local performers like Ernie Hendrickson and Matt Ulery’s band Eastern Blok. These are nationally known performers of the highest quality, yet they don’t draw more than 100 people when they play here in their hometown. No wonder they packed up and left… sad really.
Our priorities value sports above the arts. Case in point: The retired Belvidere football player who donated $1 million to build a football stadium at Belvidere North High School. I’ve talked to some Belvidere leaders who noted that the new school was built with no auditorium, and no swimming pool. The Blue Thunder could easily have shared the existing stadium with the Belvidere Bucs, but the new stadium is being built at North because that’s what the man said to do with his money.