Beschreibung:

COLLECTION OF GERARD CROFTS [1888-1934] Gerard Crofts was one of a small group of musicians and lyricists who made a huge contribution to the independence movement in the early years of the last century. Crofts was a poet and a singer, described in his prime as 'a blue-eyed fair-haired Orpheus'. He had a fine tenor voice, and was a favourite performer in patriotic concerts. His brother Joseph was a composer, pianist and arranger; their friends included Peadar Kearney, writer of 'A Soldier's Song', the composer Cathal Mac Dubhghaill and the publishers Martin Walton and Joe Stanley. They wrote and sang the tunes and songs, gay, witty, poignant and patriotic, that carried the message of independence and love of Ireland to concerts and get-togethers all around the country. Gerard Crofts came of a long-established Dublin family, with a shop in Capel St. His father was reputedly a Fenian in 1867; he enrolled in the service of the Pope and fought at the siege of Ancona. Gerard joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914; he and Peadar Kearney both served in Dublin in Easter Week. His personal friends included Sean Mac Diarmada and Eamonn Ceannt among the executed leaders, and also Countess Markiewicz. Crofts had a painful skin disease which affected his hands and prevented him from carrying arms, but he served in the GPO and the Imperial Hotel with Commdt. Brennan-Whitmore, and in the final retreat to Moore St. He was court-martialled and sentenced to ten years imprisonment, reduced to five. When Larry Ginnell MP raised his case in the House of Commons, asking if he was convicted of anything more than singing patriotic songs, the Secretary for War replied that 'the evidence shows that Gerard Crofts .. was taken from the cellar of a house with a number of armed men who had been firing at the troops.' Crofts was sent to Dartmoor and Lewes. On his release in mid-1917 he needed prolonged hospital treatment, and his health was delicate thereafter. He remained an active Republican and was again imprisoned; material in this archive indicates some clandestine involvement with Michael Collins in 1920. He continued to perform at concerts and functions of all kinds, made a number of recordings and sang on radio in Ireland and in Germany. He died in 1934, still in his forties. The following lots are from the family collection, handed down by inheritance. CONSTANCE COUNTESS MARKIEWICZ [1868-1927] 'They did not see Thy Face' A finely calligraphed poem by Dora Sigerson Shorter four stanzas in red and black ink, within an attractive watercolour border in the National colours, enclosing a drawing below the poem showing Kathleen Ni Houlihan bending over a dead or wounded hero. 14 x 10 ins [35 x 25 cms]. Mounted with an autograph inscription at foot 'To Gerald Crofts / Poem by Dora Sigerson Shorter / A rather late in the day wedding gift to one of Ireland's brave soldiers / from Constance de Markiewicz', and with a manuscript note at head, 'Painted by Countess Markiewicz in Aylesbury Prison 1917', signed Gerard Crofts. A most attractive item. Countess Markiewicz' 'A Battle Hymn' was often sung by Gerard Crofts at Republican gatherings. Provenance: By family descent COLLECTION OF GERARD CROFTS [1888-1934] Gerard Crofts was one of a small group of musicians and lyricists who made a huge contribution to the independence movement in the early years of the last century. Crofts was a poet and a singer, described in his prime as 'a blue-eyed fair-haired Orpheus'. He had a fine tenor voice, and was a favourite performer in patriotic concerts. His brother Joseph was a composer, pianist and arranger; their friends included Peadar Kearney, writer of 'A Soldier's Song', the composer Cathal Mac Dubhghaill and the publishers Martin Walton and Joe Stanley. They wrote and sang the tunes and songs, gay, witty, poignant and patriotic, that carried the message of independence and love of Ireland to concerts and get-togethers all around the country. Gerard Crofts came of a lo