Enter to win a copy of Gilded Girls: Women Entertainers of the Old West.
Catherine Hayes, the frontier’s most famous opera singer.
Catherine Hayes, affectionately known by her contemporaries as the “Swan of Erin,” was one of the first noted opera singers to appear in California when the Golden State was young, way back in the early 50s. She appeared there through the efforts of P.T. Barnum, who first introduced Jennie Lind to the United States. Her contemporaries in the musical world were Albini and Sontag and the Spanish dancer Lola Montez, with whom she called her friend: but there was a world of difference between the fiery Spanish artist, vivid interpreter of Terpsichore the morganatic wife of royalty, and the calm, placid “Swan of Erin.”
Catherine Hayes was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1928. She was a quiet, reserved girl, not very robust. Her favorite pastime was to wander by herself down the picturesque banks of the river Shannon, where, concealed in the thick shadow of the trees, she delighted to pour out her pent-up emotions in a medley of songs and trills, all quite extemporaneous, as at that time she had never had a singing lesson in her life and did not realize the great gift that was hers, which later was to thrill the hearts and stir the souls of thousands.
One starry summer’s night when the river was full of pleasure crafts, Catherine, concealed in her leafy bower, was pouring forth a veritable flood of melody. One of the small boats stopped close to shore and its occupant, Bishop Edmond Knox, listened intently. At that time he was the Bishop of Limerick. He was enchanted by Catherine voice and wasted no time in becoming acquainted with the young singer. Her persuaded her mother, who was a widow and Catherine’s sole guardian, to allow her daughter to take singing lessons from the foremost teachers in the city at his expense.
To read more about Catherine Hayes and how she became a star on stages across the frontier read Gilded Girls: Women Entertainers of the Old West.
The winner of the drawing will be announced on Friday, March 28.
