Popular music hall star donated piano to Silverdale pub

I REFER to the article about singer Gertie Gitana (Sentinel, March 10).

There was no mention of her link with Silverdale.

When her father died of silicosis, her mother later married Bob Burden, then landlord of the Swan Inn in Mill Street in the village.

Being born and raised on ‘the Dale’, I also recall from a young age being informed several times that the piano in the former pub had been donated by Gertie.

The article by Beth Shufflebotham refers to Gertie playing the saxophone.

According to her biographer Ann Aughton in the book, Thanks for the Memory, the versatile star was the first woman in Britain to play the instrument on stage.

Although invented by a Belgian, the instrument had recently been introduced from America where it had gained popularity in their bands.

Regarding the song Nellie Dean, which became her signature tune, this was nearly not the case.

Gertie’s brother Jim had settled in America and discovered the song which he thought was tailor-made for her. However, when she first saw the sheet music she was ‘not impressed’ according to her biographer.

As Beth states in her Sentinel article, Gertie first performed the song on August 9, 1907 but it was only included on that occasion as she was short of material for her act.

But it was an instant hit. After her performance, the audience leaving the Plymouth Theatre ‘could be heard humming the refrain of Nellie Dean’. The rest, as they say, is history.