Independence Day in Dublin Town. Emma Carus’ Great Irish Song Hit

New York / Chicago / London: M. Witmark & Sons, 1910. Folio sheet music, 13 ½ x 10 ½ inches. Color pictorial cover. Light wear and minor creasing to edges; very good overall.. A lively Irish-themed novelty song promoted as “Emma Carus’ Great Irish Song Hit,” issued by the major popular music publisher M. Witmark & Sons. The cover illustration shows Carus dancing before a marching crowd carrying a banner reading “Home Rule,” evoking the Irish nationalist movement, then a prominent political issue both in Ireland and among Irish-American communities. Emma Carus (1879–1927) was a well-known American vaudeville performer and comic singer who appeared widely in theaters and variety shows during the early twentieth century. Born in New York, she became a popular stage personality through novelty songs and character performances, often introducing new numbers that were quickly issued in sheet music by publishers such as Witmark. The present piece, with lyrics by Bob Harty and music by Ernest Breuer, reflects the continuing popularity of Irish-themed songs in American vaudeville and popular music during the period, when political themes such as Irish Home Rule frequently appeared in theatrical songs and stage sketches aimed at Irish-American audiences. We find a copy with a variant cover in commerce but not this design.