Coster’s Linnet, The

AKALiza’s Wedding
First Published1896

Writer/composerCharles SeelRoudRN24184

Music Hall PerformersCharles Seel
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Costello, Cecilia ; Costello, Cecilia ; 1967
Keeping family ; England : London ; 1930s – 1950s
The Coster's Linnet from Veteran Songs of the Good Old Music-Hall Days (1950)

You've all heard of Liza's wedding
How she married my pal Bill
I was at the church and heard her
Speak those magic words "I will"
When I saw her getting married
I thought I should go insane
When she chucked me up for him
My heart was broke with grief and pain
Once I had a moke and barrow
And connection next to none
But I took to drink and sold them
Everything but this has gone

It's only a simple linnet
Tho' for years it has been my 'pard'
Tho now we must part 
It's breaking my heart 
To sell him it seems very hard
He's woke me first thing in the morning
When out on my rounds I'd to start
It's a saying that's true 
Though it's not very new
'The best of old friends must part'

All went well till three months arter
Bill came home and found a note
"I have left you for another"
Where the cruel words she wrote
Well I've known her from a baby
Long before she learned to talk
When she was a dull in "pinnies"
I would teach her how to walk 
Oft she'd come and feed my linnet
Make my little home look smart
Now alas! There's nothing in it 
With my old pal I must part 

Late last night we saw poor Liza
Gazing through the window pane
"Bill" she cried "forgive me, take me4
To your heart and home again"
"Bill" I pleaded " Overlook it
Take her back lad if you can
"No" he cried " I'd sooner die first
Though a coster I'm a man"
Then my linnet started singing 
Like a voice from up above 
Through that they're once more together 
Happy in each other's love.

A song written and performed by Charles Seel (1866-1903)-more or less unknown today but a highly successful artiste in the last 20 years of the 19th century. This brief biography has been put together with minimal research and does not do him justice. Seel first appears in the theatrical press in 1879 when he was at the bottom of the bill at the JB Geoghegan’s Theatre of Varieties in Bolton, described as a dance and song artist (The Era, 13 Jul 1879). He continued to appear in Halls all over the UK in the 1880s and 90s, though by the mid 1880s he was being described as England’s Greatest Variety Entertainer (The Era, 19 Sep 1885). In 1893 he gave this interview to the Music Hall and Theatre Review  (15 Sep 1893):

Among popular favourites Charles Seel takes a front place, as he is an eccentric comedian of talent and thoroughly deserves his success. His services are in strong demand, both in London and the provinces …. Regarding his past career he says : I was born in Birmingham, on Feb. 27, 1866 . My father and mother were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lee, duettists … [After leaving school aged 9] began my professional career at the Tankard, Sheffield, and in time I assisted my father in his sketches, our names being changed then to The Comical Lees, ...my father called me Young Seel, our own name spelt backwards … and by that name I was known until I left my father at sixteen, to begin life on my own. I have had very hard struggles and often had serious thoughts of giving the profession up and learning a trade but I persevered and here I am. My father and mother both within seven months of each other. My first pantomime was at the Theatre Royal, Oldham …… last year [I appeared at] the Surrey Theatre, London. I have had several offers from American managers both of variety halls and burlesque companies but up to now I have not left England.

He died, tragically young, in 1903:

The Era – Saturday 26 December 1903

Sources:

Last Updated on May 19, 2025 by John Baxter | Published: May 19, 2025

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