The Masked Troubadour

"The Masked Troubadour" is a short story by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the December 1936 issue of the Strand. It was included in the UK collection Lord Emsworth and Others (1937).^[1] It appeared in the U.S. equivalent collection Crime Wave at Blandings. The story stars young Drones Club member Freddie Widgeon.

"Reggie and the Greasy Bird" is a rewritten version of the story with different characters, created because Wodehouse needed the money for his taxes.^[2] It appeared in the United States in the November 28, 1936 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and was later included in booklet 9 of Plum Stones, a collection of Wodehouse oddities and rarities.

"The Masked Troubadour"

At the Drones Club, two Beans see Freddie Widgeon handing money to a greasy-looking man. A Crumpet explains that the man, Jos. Waterbury, is a professional pianist, and Freddie feels obliged to give him money occasionally. The Crumpet tells the following story. Freddie, who frequently falls in love and gets turned down, is again heartbroken. He has lunch with his uncle, Lord Blicester (pronounced "blister"). Blicester has invited his friend Lady Pinfold and her daughter, Dora Pinfold, to lunch. He wants Freddie to woo and marry Dora.

Unsurprisingly, Freddie falls in love with Dora. She volunteers at a sort of Mission at Notting Hill where they are putting on an entertainment that afternoon. Freddie agrees to sing there, accompanied by Dora on the piano. He is a hit and invites the audience to return in a week for buns and cocoa. However, he does not have enough money to pay for the food. His uncle gives him ten pounds, but Freddie thinks he needs more. At the Drones Club, Freddie sees a kid, Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps's cousin Egbert from Harrow. Freddie's fellow Drone Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright says that Egbert can hit anything with a Brazil nut fired from a catapult. Freddie bets Catsmeat five pounds that Egbert cannot shoot the hat off an old gentleman leaving a cab. Freddie loses the bet, and sees that it was Blicester whose hat was knocked off. Incidentally, Blicester came to get two pounds ten shillings back.

Freddie learns that an East End music hall is holding an Amateur Night, the prize being five pounds, and plans to sing there. Not wanting Dora or the Drones to find out, he pays Jos. Waterbury five shillings to be his accompanist. Blicester is in the area, so Freddie disguises himself with a velvet mask and calls himself The Masked Troubadour. The mask unsettles the crowd and Waterbury shows up drunk. Regardless, Freddie sings well, but a red-headed man in the audience, "Ginger" Murphy, recognizes Waterbury. He throws an egg at Waterbury, which misses. Waterbury stops playing to argue with Murphy, and a food fight breaks out.

Waterbury flees to a pub, where Freddie and Murphy follow. A bar-room brawl ensues. Outside, Blicester sees Freddie get thrown out. When he grabs Freddie's arm, Freddie mistakes him for a brawler and hits him in the midriff before rejoining the brawl. The next day, Blicester decides to send Freddie away to the country for a few weeks. Freddie calls Dora and tells her everything; she hangs up on him. Waterbury thanks Freddie for saving him in the brawl, and plays on Freddie's sympathy to get money from him, which Waterbury continues to do from time to time.

"Reggie and the Greasy Bird"

The later version of the story featuring Reggie Mumford is very similar to the Freddie Widgeon version. Reggie is a member of the Junior Rotters Club instead of the Drones, where his fellow member is Beano Bagshot rather than Catsmeat. His uncle is Lord Uppingham, and the girl he falls for is Constance Rackstraw. At the Amateur Night competition, he is accompanied by the pianist Sid Montrose, an unctuous person or "greasy bird". Ginger Murphy's name is not changed.

Background

The lyrics of the song that Freddie sings in the story, "When the Silver of the Moonlight Meets the Lovelight in Your Eyes", appear to be original, though similar to those of popular songs such as "The Sunshine of Your Smile". Wodehouse providing original lyrics for the song reflects his experience as a lyricist.^[4][5] In the story, Jos. Waterbury initially plays accompaniment on piano for the wrong song before being corrected by Freddie. The song Waterbury first plays is "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails", written by Irving Berlin.^[6]

Publication history

The Widgeon story "The Masked Troubadour" was illustrated by Gilbert Wilkinson in the Strand.^[7] The story was included in the American edition of the 1939 collection The Week-End Wodehouse, and in the 1982 collection Tales from the Drones Club.^[8]

"Reggie and the Greasy Bird" was illustrated by H. R. Ballinger in the Saturday Evening Post.^[9]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
• Reggie (2007-07-08). "Wodehouse short stories: The Masked Troubadour". Blandings, a Companion to the Works of P. G. Wodehouse. Archived from the original on 2007-07-24.
• Reggie (2007-07-08). "Wodehouse short stories: Reggie and the Greasy Bird". Blandings, a Companion to the Works of P. G. Wodehouse. Archived from the original on 2007-07-24.
• Wodehouse, P. G. (1981) [1937]. Lord Emsworth and Others (Reprinted ed.). Middlesex: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140025685.