Gilfert, the reigning star of that date, at the old
Marshall Theatre--the successor to one burnt in 1811.
The habit of the stock companies in those days was to remain the whole
season, sometimes two or more, so Mammy had the opportunity to "assist" at
the entire repertoire. It is one of the regrets of my life that I am not
able to recall verbatim Mammy's arguments of the play, her descriptions of
some of the actors, and her comments.
For some reason, when later on I wished to refresh my memory of these,
Mammy had either forgotten them or suspected the intention of my asking.
She ranked her experiences at the theatre along with her account of the
adventures of the immortal "Mollie Cottontail" (for we did not know him as
"Brer Rabbit"), and the rest of her lore, I suppose, and so could not
realize that my maturer mind would care for any of them.
When I had subsequently made some acquaintance with plays, or read them, I
recognized most of those described by Mammy. Some remain unidentified.
Hamlet she preserved in name. Whilst she had no quotations of the words,
she had a vivid recollection of the ghost scenes, and "pisenin' de king's
ear.
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