What is home without a mother

AKA
First Published 1909
Writer/composer AT Gill Roud RN24569

Music Hall Performers Nat Travers
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Haynes, Mary Ann ; England : Sussex ; 1974		 

What is home without a mother
Written and composed by AT Gill
Sung with unbounded success by Nat Travers

That mother is a bloke’s best friend,
It’s a saying we all know
You never know her value till she’s gone.
mother was my best pal,
But she died some time ago,
since that time I’ve been sad and forlorn,
The old man's grief Is hard to see,
His troubles hard to bear,
With us the neighbours they all sympathise
Our mother has been called away 
From sorrow and from care,
To brighter realms far up above the skies.

You never know the value of a mother till she’s gone,
That love can never be replaced by another….
From highest to the low, Even in our humble show,
What is home, yes What is home without a mother?

Now, when the news first came to me, 
I was on my daily round,
Trying hard to earn an honest bob.
A more contented coster bloke 
Than me could not be found.
I couldn't work, the news it made me sob.
I got home broken-hearted,
And I stood outside the house ;
With trembling hands I knocked soft at the door. 
The old man came and looked at me
And said "Boy" —with a sigh —
"The worst has come, your mother is no more."

Her arm-chair still stands in its place,
And her picture's on the wall,
And both of them reminds us of the one 
Who's gone from us for ever—
Yes, who's gone beyond recall ;
Our poor old father, too, is nearly done, 
He raves about the time,
When they were courting years ago. 
I tries to cheer him up, but all in vain ;
He takes the picture down and says= 
"Old gal, I loves yer so,
I'd give the world to bring you back again."

This sentimental song, copyrighted in 1909 but not a hit until 1914, featured in the repertoire of Nat Travers, King of Coster Comedians, whose brief biography appears below. The song was written and composed by AT Gill who wrote a number of songs for Travers between 1900 and 1920.

Nat Travers ( c1875-1958) was the son of Hiram Travers, also a Coster (ie Cockney) comedian. He sang a number of songs that featured in the repertoire of Gus Ellen and Albert Chevalier, like My old Dutch and Knocked ’em in the Old Kent Road.  He had his own popular songs too like When I’m a member of parliament and Thumbs up. From his debut aged 8 he performed for more 75 years. He was a regular on BBC radio during WW2 and was already an established adult performer when he appeared on same bill as Charlie Chaplain in 1900. He lived long enough to publicly disparage rock n roll and skiffle in the late 1950s. He seems to have told a journalist in 1957 that he had invented the phrase Bob’s your uncle. []

Other sung by Nat Travers which feature in the repertoire of traditional singers include He’s moved in a bigger house now (22780)

A recording or download of these songs can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.

Travers’ song What is home without a mother should not to be confused with the sentimental American poem/song of the same name written by Septimus Winner in 1854, which starts:

What Is Home Without A Mother
Septimus Winner (1854)

What is home without a mother,
What are all the joys we meet?
When her loving smile no longer
Greets the coming of our feet;
The days seem long, the nights are drear,
And time rolls slowly on,
And oh how few are childhoods pleasures,
When her gentle gentle care is gone.

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