Annotation:Miser thus a shilling sees (The)

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MISER THUS A SHILLING SEES, THE. AKA and see "O the broom." English, Air. The tune appears under this title in Gay's Beggar's Opera (Air 18, 1729), where it is sung in Act I by McHeath and Polly.

Macheath:
The Miser thus a Shilling sees,
Which he's oblig'd to pay,
With sighs resigns it by degrees,
And fears 'tis gone for aye.

Polly:
The Miser thus a Shilling sees,
Which he's oblig'd to pay,
With sighs resigns it by degrees,
And fears 'tis gone for aye.

In a chapter entitled "Miss Paton" from The Biography of the British Stage: Being Correct Narratives of the Lives of all the principal Actors & Actresses (1824) the song in mentioned in an anecdote:

Miss Paton was the occasion, during the last Season, of Mr. [Charles] Dibdin, of the Haymarket Theatre, perpetrating a pun, which, considering how scarce wit is at the present day, is certainly worthy of being preserved. During the rehearsal of the Beggars' Opera, she intimated to the stage-manager (Mr. D.) that she should like to sing the air "The Miser thus a shilling sees," a note higher; to which Mr. Dibdin wittily replied, 'then, Miss, you must sing "The Miser thus a GUINEA sees." [p. 217)

The air it is based on dates to the end of the 16th century and was a favorite and familiar melody. It appears in Orpheus Caledonius (1725-6) and Allan Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany (p. 419, Song X).

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