Just A Little World of Two – Words and Music by Chas Shackford (Blog 507)

This week the sheet music title Just a Little World of Two showed up for sale on e-Bay. It caught my attention as it was the first time I’d seen this title written by Charles Winthrop Marston Shackford, the baritone singer who published music between about 1891 and 1910. I went hunting to see if I could find any other sources for this sheet music and it does appear that a copy is at the UW-Madison Library however they don’t have a digital copy of the front cover on their website. I did, however find a copy of the romantic words in George Thompson’s Twentieth Century SONG BOOK which we are sharing below.

JUST A LITTLE WORLD OF TWO.
Words and Music by Chas. Shackford.

I saw two sweethearts standing in the moon
beams golden light.
Down by a little cottage long ago,
The hour had come for parting, ere they said the
last good night
I heard the boyish lover whisper low;
If you always love me. I know what we’ll do;
We’ll play this world belongs to you and me.
The brown eyes of the maiden gazed into her
sweetheart’s face.
And softly asked him will it always be?

CHORUS.

Just a little world of two
Where the skies are always blue,
Where the sunbeams seem to whisper of my love
for you.
Where two hearts are always true.
In a home where tears are few,
Where the old love’s ever new,
That’s a little world of two.

Long years ave passed, yet fancy brings a
picture back once more
Of that same little cot now old and gray,
And gazing o’er the meadows thro’ the latticed
vine-clad door.
I see those same brown eyes of bygone days
Watching for her sweetheart just at close of day.
With open arms she greets him just the same;
For true love never faltered but grew stronger
day by day
And filled their world with sunshine to the
end.
-Chorus

A partial biography of Charles is included in a post about his song Let Bygones Be Bygones written in 2017.

All posts on this website are a work in progress.  We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared.  Also we’d love it if  you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

SOURCES:

e-Bay Listing Just a Little World of Two by Chas Shackford

Twentieth Century SONG BOOK (George W. Thompson, n.d.), ; digital images, (https://www.classic-banjo.com/files/JOURNALS_AND_ALBUMS/G_W_Thompson_Twentieth_Century_Song_Book.pdf : accessed .

Copyright 2022 Joanne Shackford Parkes  (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not copy this material and paste it elsewhere) .

Charles W M Shackford’s Songs, an 1895 Article from the Indianapolis Journal (Blog 418)

We found this article while looking through Indianapolis newspapers for references of Shackfords.  We’ve written previously about Charles Shackford but appreciate an 1895 newspaper article that describes his singing and writing skills.  Also this is the first time we’ve heard about Charles’ poetry skills.  We’ll see if we can find a good copy of Love You More and More and Sunlight in the Shadows to share – we know we  haven’t found any sheet music for Granpa’s Story yet but will keep looking.  Also this article is the first reference to My Star My Queen which we’ll add to our listing all of Charles’ music.

There has been a musical genius at Wild-
wood ever since the summer opera company
came to Indianapolis and the people are
just beginning to find it out. It is the lead-
ing baritone, Mr. Charles Shackford, who
was almost unable to sing for the first two
weeks on account of a severe cold con-
tracted in Peoria. Since Mr. Shackford got
rid of his throat trouble he has been ad-
vancing rapidly in the favor of those who
can appreciate a good voice. Mr. Shackford
is both a song writer and a poet of no
mean ability, although he never likes to
have the poet business spoken of in his
presence. He has written a number of songs
that are selling rapidly and, in fact, he
might retire from the operatic business and
live on his royalties were it not
for the fact that he has been in
it for so long that he is at home no-
where except behind the footlights. Dur-
ing the week of “Mascot” at Wildwood he
sang his latest song for the first time on
any stage, and it promises to become a
rage. It is a simple little ballad called ”
Love You More and More,” and nearly 300
copies have already been sold in Indianpo-
lis. Mr. Shackford’s most famous song is
“My Star, My Queen,” which he never sings
except as a serenade in “Fra Daivolo.” It
was his first song and has always been in
manuscript until his coming to In-
dianapolis, when he finally yielded to the
eloquence of his publishers and gave it to
the world. Had the present company con-
tined here until next week Mr. Shackford
would have sung the serenade. Two of his
best-known outside of the ones mentioned
are “Sunlight and Shadows.” and “Grand-
pa’s Story,” the latter having a very pretty
refrain in waltz time.

All posts on this website are a work in progress.  We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared.  Also we’d love it if  you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

SOURCES:

“Charles Shackford’s Songs.,” Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), 8 August 1895; digital, Hoosier State Chronicles (newspapers.library.in.gov : accessed 26 August 2016).

Copyright 2017 Joanne Shackford Parkes  (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not just copy this material and paste it elsewhere)

Treasure Chest Thursday – Let Bygones Be Bygones, 1897, A Beautiful Song by Chas Shackford and Kerry Mills (Blog 412)

Charles W M Shackford, the son of Charles Harrison and Ariana (Marston) Shackford was first a baritone singer, an opera performer, led an opera company, and was horsewhipped by a performer’s mother when his company shut down without paying the performers.  Charles was married at the age of 20, performed around the United States, was injured in a fire in New Orleans, and was fired at a performance in Arkansas.  He composed love songs, dramatic songs, comedic songs, operatic comedy, and blackface music – so far we’ve discovered 45 different titles published by Charles between 1891 and 1910 – we’re sure there are more pieces.

Charles may have had trouble managing his finances — his mother restricted the amount left in her will to Charles paying his distribution in monthly amounts and his parents also seem to have raised his two daughters Jessie and Mary – they are listed in the 1910 census as living with their grandparents. One might wonder if this 1897 song created when his children were 12 and 10 was a reflection of something going on in his life?

LET BYGONES BE BYGONES

A Beautiful Song

By Chas Shackford and Kerry Mils

I entered a station one evening
And boarded the midnight train
Behind me sat two pretty children,
Who’d quarrelled about some game,
Just over the aisle sat a lady
Their grandmother old and gray
She took both the children beside her,
And sweetly I then heard her say.

Refrain
Let bygones by bygones for ever,
Forgive and forget each wrong,
Thro sunshine and shadow my darling,
You’ll find life is one grand, sweet song.
Remember that each act of kindness,
Comes straight from the heart they say,
Don’t speak of the
faults of another,
Let bygones be bygones for aye

Just then down the aisle walked a stranger,
But paused when he saw her face
For there sat the mother who loved him,
Upon whom he’d brought disgrace,
His voice seemed to shake with emotion
Then with one great cry of joy
She said, “John, let by-gones,
And fell in the arms of her boy

Refrain
Let bygones by bygones for ever,
Forgive and forget each wrong,
Thro sunshine and shadow my darling,
You’ll find life is one grand, sweet song.
Remember that each act of kindness,
Comes straight from the heart they say,
Don’t speak of the
faults of another,
Let bygones be bygones for aye

All posts on this website are a work in progress.  We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared.  Also we’d love it if  you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

SOURCES:

“Advertisement,” New York Clipper, 31 July 1897, page 11, Let Bygones Be Bygones by Chas Shackford and Kerry Mills; digital images, University of Illinois (http://www.library.illinois.edu/ : accessed 4 December 2013), American Popular Entertainment.

New Hampshire, County Probate Estate Files, Ariana M. Shackford Case No 7927; “New Hampshire, County Probate Estate Files, 1769-1936,” digital images, Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 30 January 2014); Carroll, Case no 7881-7964 1840-1936, Images 938-942.

“New York Public Library Digital Collections,” database and images, NYPL Digital Gallery (http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/: accessed 16 September 2013), Let Bygones Be Bygones.

Copyright 2018 Joanne Shackford Parkes  (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not just copy this material and paste it elsewhere)