Peg o' My Heart

Peg O' My Heart (1912), a comedy by J. Hartley Manners. [ Cort Theatre, 603 perf.] No sooner do the Chichesters learn they are bankrupt than a small silver lining appears: The late brother of Mrs. Chichester (Emily Melville) has offered her a handsome annuity if she will look after his teenage daughter, Margaret (Laurette Taylor). Peg arrives just as her cousin Ethel (Christine Norman) and a young philanderer, Christian Brant (Reginald Mason), are locked in a secret embrace. The family is appalled at Peg's dowdy dress and at the homely mutt she carries with her. Peg is equally taken aback by her relatives' haughty, unloving nature. Her only real friend would appear to be a young neighboring farmer, Jerry (H. Reeves‐Smith). Only after Peg prevents Ethel from foolishly eloping with Brant does the family begin to soften toward her. Before long Jerry reveals he is actually Sir Gerald Adair, her legal guardian. To his proposal of marriage the delighted Peg replies, “My father always said: ‘Sure there's nothing half so sweet in life as love's young dream.’” One of the best‐loved of all American plays, it is reputed to have had eight road companies, which were kept busy for three years. When it closed in New York, it was the longest‐run nonmusical play in Broadway history. Taylor and the comedy returned to Broadway in 1921 for a successful run, and the play was musicalized and seen Off Broadway in 2003.

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For other uses, see Peg o' My Heart (disambiguation).

"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song, performed by Max Harris and his Novelty Trio (based on a version by The Harmonicats), was used as the theme of the BBC miniseries The Singing Detective (1986).

Recording Engineer Bill Putnam Sr. was the first to use artificial reverb creatively on a pop recording with the use of the first reverb chamber (the studio bathroom!)

Notable recordings of the song include:

• Charles W. Harrison
  • Label: Victor 17412 (matrix: 13628-2)
  • Recorded: July 24, 1913

• Henry Burr
  • Label: Columbia A-1404 (matrix: 38980-2)
  • Recorded: August 1, 1913

• Walter Van Brunt
  • Edison, Blue Amberol 2036
  • Released: September 1913

• Bunny Berigan & his Orchestra
  • Label: Victor 27258 (matrix: 043925)
  • Recorded: New York City November 28, 1939

• The Harmonicats
  • Label: Vitacoustic 1
  • Released: March 1947
  • First entered the Billboard magazine chart on April 18, on charts 21 weeks, peaking at #1

• Buddy Clark with orchestra directed by Mitchell Ayres
  • Label: Columbia 37392 (matrix: CO 37671)
  • Recorded: New York City April 25, 1947
  • First entered the Billboard magazine chart on June 27, on charts 7 weeks, peaking at #4

• Art Lund with orchestra conducted by Johnny Thompson
  • Label: MGM 10037 (matrix: 47-S-3077-3)
  • Recorded: in Los Angeles, California May 12, 1947
  • First entered the Billboard magazine chart on June 20, on charts 10 weeks, peaking at #6

• Clark Dennis
  • Label: Capitol 346
  • First entered the Billboard magazine chart on July 4, 1947, on charts 1 week, at #10

• Three Suns
  • Label: RCA Victor 20-2272
  • First entered the Billboard magazine chart on June 20, 1947, on charts 16 weeks, peaking at #2

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