Eugene Stratton
Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in Buffalo, New York, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British music halls. Stratton was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.[1]
Eugene Stratton | |
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![]() Stratton circa 1900 | |
Born | Eugene Augustus Rühlmann May 8, 1861 |
Died | September 15, 1918 57) | (aged
Other names | Two Welsleys Master Jean |
Occupation | Music hall dancer & singer |
Spouse(s) | Annie Matilda Moore |
Biography
Stratton first performed at the age of 10 in an acrobatic act called the Two Welsleys. He appeared as a dancer in 1873 under the name of Master Jean. He spent some time in a circus before joining a minstrel group.[1]
He went to England in 1880 and was by this time using the name of Stratton. In England, he worked his way up to the main song & dance man in the Moore & Burgess Minstrel Show, and in 1883 he married Moore's daughter, Annie Matilda Moore. He left the minstrels to go on the music hall circuit in 1887, first as a double act, then solo. Although at one time he used an Irish voice, he mainly appeared as a "black-faced" singer. He also performed in pantomime, for the first time in 1896.
His friendship & association with Leslie Stuart gave him many of the songs for which he was known. During the period 1899 to 1911 he made records of most of Stuart's songs.[1]
He died in Christchurch, Hampshire on September 15, 1918, and is buried in Bandon Hill Cemetery in Wallington in Surrey. In 1935 his friend Joe Elvin was buried next to him.[2]
In James Joyce’s novel Ulysses (1922) in the fifteenth episode “Circe”, there are references to Stratton, as well as the adoption of a faux Negro dialect.[3]
Songs
![](../I/m/Little_Dolly_Daydream_-_Leslie_Stuart.jpg)
- Aunt Mandy
- The Cake Walk
- A Carol of Stars
- The Dandy Coloured Coon[5]
- Hoodoo
- Idler
- Is yer mammie always with ye?
- I don't know nobody
- I Lub a Lubly Gal
- I'm the father of a little black coon
- Lily of Laguna (There is a poster and a recording of him singing this, with a remarkable Irish accent)[6]
- Little Dolly Daydream
- Love me little
- My little octoroon
- My second time on earth
- She's mine, I'm hers
- Waitress' love letter
- When de golden sun went down
- Whistling Coon
- Won't you love me
References
- "Biography of a Water Rat".
- Music Hall and Variety Artistes Burial Places at www.arthurlloyd.co.uk
- "What a time".
- Leslie Stuart (1897), Little Dolly Daydream: Pride of Idaho, London: Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd., OCLC 47314690.
- "Roud Number: V1722". Broadside Ballads Online. Bodleian Libraries. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
- hawkmoon03111951 (24 January 2010). "Lily of Laguna - Eugene Stratton" – via YouTube.
- Oxford Companion to Popular Music by Peter Gammond - ISBN 0-19-280004-3
- Harrington, J. "A Closer Look at Eugene Stratton (1861-1918).", in: Dublin James Joyce Journal 2.2 (2009): 78-88. Project MUSE. Web. 30 Aug. 2016. <https://muse.jhu.edu/>.