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"The Absent-Minded Beggar" is an 1899 poem by Rudyard Kipling, set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and often accompanied by an illustration by Richard Caton Woodville. The song was written as part of an appeal by the ''Daily Mail'' to raise money for soldiers fighting in the South African War (usually known as the Boer War) and their families. The fund was the first such charitable effort for a war. The chorus of the song exhorted its audience to "pass the hat for your credit's sake, and pay— pay— pay!" The patriotic poem and song caused a sensation and were constantly performed throughout the war and beyond. Kipling was offered a knighthood shortly after publication of the poem but declined the honour. Vast numbers of copies of the poem and sheet music were published, and large quantities of related merchandise were sold to aid the charity. The "Absent-Minded Beggar Fund" was an unprecedented success and raised a total of more than £250,000. ==History== In September 1899, it was clear that the crisis in South Africa was likely to turn into war. By 2 October, all military leave had been cancelled, and urgent preparations were under way to send a large expeditionary force to the Cape, with horses and supplies being requisitioned and mobilised.〔"The Transvaal Crisis", ''The Times'', 2 October 1899〕 On 7 October, a proclamation was issued calling out the Army Reserve. Of 65,000 liable men, around 25,000 were intended to be called up for service.〔"The Transvaal Crisis", ''The Times'', 9 October 1899〕 Many, if not all, of the men thus mobilised were ex-soldiers in permanent employment for whom returning to military duty meant a significant cut in their income. In addition, there was no contemporary legislation of the time protecting the permanent employment of Reservists. Employers could – and often would – replace them with other workers, with no guarantee that if the soldier returned he would be able to take back his job.〔Letter dated 9 October 1899 from "Acta non-Verba", ''The Times'', 19 October 1899〕 As a result, many families were quickly plunged into poverty, since a lifestyle comfortably maintained on a workman's wage of twenty shillings could not be kept up on the infantryman's "shilling a day". As if this were not enough, there was no guarantee that the husband would have a job to return to, even without the prospect of injury or death. A number of charitable funds existed to support these individuals, most notably the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, but a number of private appeals were also made.〔Letter dated 31 October 1899 from Lansdowne and Wolseley, ''The Times'', 1 November 1899〕 Simultaneously, a wave of patriotism was sweeping the country, catered to by jingoist newspapers such as the ''Daily Mail''. Many of these newspapers were also involved in the charitable fundraising efforts to benefit the Reservists and their dependents. The ''Daily Mail'' proprietor, Alfred Harmsworth, had publicised efforts to help soldiers and their families. This drew the attention of Rudyard Kipling, who produced "The Absent-Minded Beggar" on 16 October 1899〔Fowler, Simon. ("The Absent-Minded Beggar": an introduction ), Fowler History site, 2001, accessed 23 June 2009〕 and sent the verses to Harmsworth on 22 October with a note that "they are at your service. ... turn (proceeds ) over to any one of the regularly ordained relief-funds, as a portion of your contribution. I don't want my name mixed up in the business except as it will help to get money. It's catchpenny verse and I want it to catch just as many pennies as it can. ... () It isn't a thing I shall care to reprint; so there is no need of copyrighting it in America. If any one wants to sing it take care that the proceeds go to our men."〔("Poem Fund Now £50,000" ). ''The Daily Mail'', December 1899. Scans exhibited at the 2010 Kipling conference at the University of Bristol, called "Following 'The Absent-minded Beggar'".〕 By 25 October, Kipling was plotting with Harmsworth on how to maximise the fundraising from the poem by having it recited at music halls. He suggested finding a composer to set it to a "common + catchy" tune.〔 The poem was first published in ''The Daily Mail'' on 31 October 1899 and was an immediate success. Maud Tree, the wife of actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, recited it at the Palace Theatre, every night before the show, for fourteen months, and other performers recited it at music halls and elsewhere, giving part of the profits to the fund.〔 The country's premier composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan, was immediately asked to set the poem to music. Sullivan had written some 20 operas, including fourteen comic operas with W. S. Gilbert, and a large volume of songs, orchestral pieces and other music. Although he was in the middle of composing his next opera, ''The Rose of Persia'' (which was to be his last completed opera), Sullivan agreed.〔Cannon, John. "The Absent-Minded Beggar", ''Gilbert and Sullivan News'', March 1997, Vol. 11, No. 8, pp. 16–17, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society, London〕 Both Kipling and Sullivan declined proffered fees for creating the song.〔Cannon, John. "A Little-Heralded Sullivan Centenary", ''Gilbert and Sullivan News'', Autumn/Winter 1999, Vol. 11, No. 16, p. 18, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society, London〕 Artist Richard Caton Woodville, within several days, provided an illustration, titled "A Gentleman in Kharki",〔The phrase "a gentleman in khaki" is from the first verse of the poem, which uses the more common spelling, "khaki"; loanwords from such as this Hindi word often had multiple forms in English. The spelling "Kharki" is given as a "vulgar" form in the ''Hobson-Jobson'' dictionary.〕 showing a wounded but defiant British Tommy in battle. This illustration was included in "art editions" of the poem and song.〔Cannon, John. "Following the Absent-minded Beggar", ''Gilbert and Sullivan News'', Autumn 2010, Vol. IV, No.12, pp. 10–12〕 In 1897, Sullivan had agreed to compose music for Rudyard Kipling's poem ''Recessional'', but he never completed the song. When asked to set "The Absent-Minded Beggar" to music two years later, Sullivan found Kipling's verses so difficult to set that he told his diary, "if it wasn't for charity's sake, I could never have undertaken the task".〔 Still, the experienced composer completed the music in four days, on 5 November 1899. The first public performance was sung by John Coates, under Sullivan's baton, at the Alhambra Theatre on 13 November 1899, to a "magnificent reception" of an overflowing theatre.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Absent-Minded Beggar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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