Johnny Patterson clown uilleann

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Johnny Patterson

entertainer, clown, songwriter

b. near Feakle, County Clare 1840
d. Tralee, County Kerry May 31, 1889


"Johnny Patterson" by "B.B. [Breandan Breathnach]" Ceol - A Journal of Irish Music vol. V no. ii March 1982 p. 49


This remarkable photograph may have been taken in Londonderry, Ireland, probably about 1887. Here is Johnny Patterson, the famous circus clown, in his green costume decorated with a harp on his chest, and with shamrocks and thistles. He holds a set of Irish pipes in a comfortable posture.

Patterson led quite a life, some of it almost the stuff of legend. He is best remembered for the songs he wrote, some of which are still performed, and for the circumstances of his death. Be advised; there is little about piping in the account which follows.

John Francis Patterson was born near the village of Feakle, County Clare, in 1840. He was an orphan at age three and taken in by an uncle living in Ennis, County Clare. At 14 he enlisted as a drummer boy in the army. After five years in the army Patterson was an "expert on piccolo and drums." He bought himself out of the army and joined John Swallow's Circus, touring Ireland as band member. A talent for singing and joke telling was acknowledged and he was later hired by Swallow as "The Irish Singing Clown."

In this era, circa 1860-70, the circus was smaller, more intimate. Instead of simultaneous action in three rings, the focus was on one ring. Tents were smaller and the audiences closer to the performers. Equestrian, acrobatic and clown acts were often the main attractions. Besides sight gags and slapstick, a clown might have told jokes; a few sang songs. Patterson "was not a tumbling clown, a knockabout, or a pantomimic buffoon; but he was a talking and singing jester who relied upon his fund of natural humor and glib gift of repartee to excite the hilarity of his listeners ... he sang with excellent effect ... songs of his own composition...."

He toured Ireland and Britain with three or four different circuses and was a big success. There are many performance accounts which praise his creativity and spontaneity. At each town he is said to have inquired about local news and people, and incorporated these specifics into a rhyme or story in his act. He made some effort to avoid the vulgarities and brutality of the "stage Irishman," and tried to "elevate his fellow countrymen in the eyes of the public rather than degrade them."

Patterson married Selena Hickey, also a circus performer, in 1869 or 70. They had three children by 1876. In March 1877 he left wife and children behind and went to America. He may have left with the expectation of a week-long engagement at Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York City, April 1877, and this was his first appearance in America. It is less likely he had a circus gig arranged; in early April he ran an ad in the New York Clipper, a theatrical trade paper, "Hibernian Humorist, Singing Clown, and Instrumentalist, just arrived from England, can be engaged for the tenting season."

Patterson worked in America until 1885 or 86. The "tenting season" lasted from about May to October each year and for those months he was with a circus. Cooper and Bailey's Great London Circus, 1877-80; Doris' Great Interocean Circus, 1881-82 or 83; Sells Brothers, 1885; probably Doris' Interocean, 1886. During the fall and winter months he had mostly indoor engagements of a variety hall or early-vaudeville nature. For examples, at the Theatre Comique in NYC, January 1878, or the Central Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland, March 1880. In March 1883 he was both stage manager and performer with Faranta's Specialty Company, a tent show in New Orleans, where the winters are warm enough for outdoor events. Signor Faranta was a contortionist.

In 1885 or 86 Patterson returned to Ireland, by then a comparatively wealthy man. He bought a house in Belfast. He joined Lloyd's Mexican Circus, then Ginnett's, then Powell and Clarke's. The first reports that Patterson was drinking heavily are from this time. His wife Selena died of tuberculosis in 1886. By 1887 he was in partnership with, or at least employed by, Joe Keeley, in the Keeley and Patterson's Great United States Circus. Patterson toured throughout Ireland with this circus until his death.

Patterson married Bridget Murray in April 1888.

There are two versions of how Patterson died. On May 27, 1889 the circus played at Tralee, County Kerry. The political situation in the County was tense due to struggles between landlords and tenants. Here is the first version:

Patterson, in his act, performed a political song of his, "Do Your Best for One Another," an appeal to Irish of "all political persuasions to forget their differences and work together." Harry Bradshaw quotes from memoirs by Patterson's son, now lost:

This was a Monday. Patterson was told by a doctor not to travel. The circus moved on. He stayed at a hotel in Tralee, then in a hospital. His condition worsened and he died Thursday, May 31.

The second version, from the Kerry Sentinel newspaper, June 5, 1889, as quoted by Bradshaw:

Bradshaw also quotes The Clare Journal to the effect that at Monday's performance Patterson was hissed by a few in the audience, "but finally, the majority of the audience put down the hisses and Johnny proceeded with his song." No mention of a fight.

Both versions include the story, often repeated, that on Thursday night, Dr. Fitzmaurice, as he was leaving, said, "I'll see you in the morning." Johnny said "you may see me, doctor, but I won't see you." Patterson died in the night.

Down the years Patterson's death by violence seems the more widely accepted version. There have been articles about the man, paintings, plays, a musical, recordings of his songs, a Website. A local hero and symbol of conciliation. On the other hand Richard McMinn's thorough work suggests that best evidence supports the second version, Patterson died of pneumonia. An absolutely certain account of Patterson's last days will probably never be written.

Patterson's songs are straightforward and usually sentimental. "Bridget Donohue" was one of his most popular when he was active and is still performed. Other enduring titles include "The Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door" and "The Garden Where the Praties Grow." A documentary radio show with some of his music, "The Rambler from Clare" (RTE 1976), can be heard on the Web.

There are only three contemporaneous references to Patterson as Irish piper. One is the photograph, above. The second is the cover of Johnny Patterson's United States Circus Songster, printed in Dublin, likely in 1887. The cover shows an engraved portrait of Patterson, probably based on the photograph. The third is an ad for an appearance at the Star Variety Theatre in Dublin, March-April, 1886, "... The Famous Hibernian Clown and Irish Piper, Mr. Johnny Patterson. ..." These references appear a short time after Patterson had spent eight or nine years in the United States, so the assumption is that he learned piping there. Perhaps. There is no information about when, where and from whom he learned the pipes or how pipes were used in his act, and no mention of a set of pipes being passed down through his family. There is evidence that Patterson played piccolo, drums, concertina, harmonica and "bottles."


A note on sources and chronology.
There is a great deal of material out there about Patterson, far more than exists for most of the subjects of other "Lives of the Pipers" biographies. Two essential sources are the groundbreaking articles by Harry Bradshaw and Richard McMinn. Bradshaw writes with a focus on music, McMinn with a focus on the circus.
Some of the assertions in this article are based on my own assessment of the evidence. I am convinced that Patterson was in America from 1877 to most likely 1886. Bradshaw has the dates as 1876-85. Bradshaw and McMinn give the impression that Patterson's career in America was a steady march of success but I have found indications that there were periods in which he was looking for work. Still and all, Patterson was probably Ireland's greatest and most successful circus clown.


Selected References

Bradshaw, Harry "Johnny Patterson The Rambler from Clare" [green costume, p. 79; much about Patterson's early life, pp. 73; creativity and spontaneity, p. 74; elevate rather than degrade, p. 75; the two versions of Patterson's death, p. 79] Dal gClais [Co. Clare cultural journal] no. 6? 1982 pp. 73-80
On the Web courtesy the Clare County Library, accessed Jan. 2019:
http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/music/johnny_patterson_bradshaw2.htm

Bradshaw, Harry email Feb. 2019 [no mention of pipes passed down in family]

"... The Famous Hibernian Clown and Irish Piper, Mr. Johnny Patterson. ..." Dublin Ireland Irish Times March 31, 1886 p. 4 column 1
Newspapers.com

McMinn, Richard "Johnny Patterson: Balladeer and artistic muse, 1840-1889" Familia Ulster Genealogical Review Number 32 2016 pp. 1-16

McMinn, Richard "Life and Death of the 'Rambler from Clare' A Victorian Murder Mystery?" [partner or employee with Keeley, p. 89; Patterson plays "bottles," p. 103; lost Patterson memoirs, p. 108 footnote 7; the most careful account of Patterson's death, pp. 91-107] Familia Ulster Genealogical Review Number 30 2014 pp. 77-114

Odell, George C. D. Annals of the New York Stage [at the Theatre Comique] Columbia Univ. Press 1938 vol. X p. 450

Patterson's United States Circus Songster cover. Image from the Na Píobairí Uilleann Website, "Johnny Patterson illustration - book" Accessed Feb. 2019.
http://pipers.ie/source/media/?searchTerm=patterson%20&mediaId=28799&pageSize=12&sPage=1

"Photos by Edmund Huther Johnny Patterson - entertainer" [photo produced, perhaps taken in Londonderry]
"Photographers of Great Britain & Ireland 1840 - 1940" www.cartedevisits.co.uk Website accessed Jan. 2019
http://www.cartedevisite.co.uk/photographers-category/biographies/g-to-l/edmund-joseph-huther/huther-e-cdv-of-j-patterson-from-ebay-96dpi/

"Provincial. New Orleans. Items: Faranta's All-Star Specialties New York Mirror March 17, 1883 p. 4 column 1
New York NY Dramatic Mirror 1882 Dec-Dec 1884 Grayscale - 0138.pdf
Also: "New Orleans" [as stage manager; performance fire and stampede] New York Mirror March 31, 1883 p. 4 column 3
New York NY Dramatic Mirror 1882 Dec-Dec 1884 Grayscale - 0162.pdf

"Theatrical Record. City Summary. [at Tony Pastor's; plays concertina and harmonica] New York Clipper April 28, 1877 p. 38 column 3
New York NY Clipper 1879-1880 - 0033.pdf

"To Circus Managers. Johnny Patterson ... can be engaged...." New York Clipper April 7, 1877 p. 16 column 2
New York NY Clipper 1879-1880 - 0011.pdf

"Variety Halls. ... The new features at the Central Theatre, Baltimore, Md." New York Clipper March 13, 1880 p. 403 column 4
New York NY Clipper 1877-1879 - 0409.pdf

Walsh, Townsend "A Famous Circus Clown." [not a tumbling clown] New York Clipper Dec. 19, 1914 Christmas Number p. III column 5
New York NY Clipper 1914-1915 - 1201.pdf

Walsh, Townsend "Johnny Patterson's Career" [excellent if not completely accurate brief bio] Billboard Nov. 11, 1933 p. 27 column 1
New York NY Billboard 1933 01 07 1934 03 31 1632-_2.pdf

Nick Whitmer
Feb. 2019