The Mouth of the Nile; or, the Glorious First of August, a Musical Entertainment... As performed at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden.

Bookseller Notes

Short patriotic musical celebrating Nelson's victory over the French at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Lyrics by Thomas Dibdin (1771-1841), who also played the part of Pat, music by Mendelssohn's friend Thomas Attwood (1765-1838), and a rousing prologue by playwright Richard Cumberland: 'Waving Britannia's trident o'er the flood / The air above, all fire, the sea below, all blood'.The piece premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden on 25 October 1798 as an afterpiece. The original cast included Edward Townsend as Jack Junk, John Fawcett as William, Dibdin as Pat, Charles Incledon as Michael and Sarah Sims as Susan. 'In his first season [at Covent Garden], beginning with The Mouth of the Nile (acted twenty-seven times), in celebration of Nelson's naval victory, Dibdin made 466 6s' (ODNB).