Crouch, Frederick Nicholls

1808-1896

Composer and musician who filled various offices during his life-time and is best known as the author of the familiar Kathleen Mavourneen. He was born in London and was the son of a violoncellist. At an early age he showed a talent for music. At nine he played in a band at the Royal Coburg Theatre, London, then traveled through Yorkshire and Scotland. For two years he was a seaman on coasting vessels plying between London and Leith. Through the influence of William Watts, he became a member of the orchestra of the Drury Lane Theatre, studied music and was in the choirs of Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. Then he entered the Royal Academy of Music for a period of study. While employed a few years later by a firm of metal brokers he invented an engraving process known as zincography. For years he was known as the Irish lecturer, and on one of his tours the song Kathleen Mavourneen, which was one of a series of songs called The Echoes of the Lakes, was given. It was published about 1838, and has always enjoyed a wide popularity. Crouch went to America, in 1849, joined the Confederate army, and served through the Civil War. His last years were passed in Baltimore. He wrote the music of two operas, Sir Roger de Coverley, and The Fifth of November. His published songs include The Songs of Erin; Songs of a Rambler; Wayside Melodies; and others, all popular in their day.