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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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The Yeomen of the Guard
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or, The Merryman and His Maid (1888) Unusual among the *Savoy operas of Gilbert and Sullivan in having a sad ending. Colonel Fairfax, about to be executed in the Tower of London in the 16C, has legal reasons for getting married just before his death. He persuades Elsie Maynard, the partner of a strolling jester (Jack Point) to go through the charade with him, but just after the wedding a pardon arrives for Fairfax. The bridal pair are delighted. But Jack Point, singing 'the song of a merryman moping mum', spoils the festivities by falling 'insensible at their feet'.
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