tirling (originally, "Lambert") "adapted" or pirated eight of Dickens's works for the stage.He was also a prolific borrower from other writers, among them, Sir Walter Scott and William Harrison Ainsworth. By trade a banker's clerk, while still in his late teens, Lambert took the stage name "Stirling" when he entered the theatrical world in 1828 at London's Pavilion, and was soon a fast favourite with English audiences. He staged his first production, Sadk and Kalasrade, at Birmingham, and subsequently wrote and produced at least 190 other plays. On 20 December 1845, just days after the novella's publication, Stirling opened an adaptation of Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth at the Adelphi which proved so popular that it ran for over ninety performances.
Stirling married actress Mary Anne Hall in 1832; although they parted company shortly afterward, she remained the celebrated Fanny Stirling for generations of theatre-goers, playing a great variety of roles during her lengthy career. Under Frederick Yates, Edward Stirling became stage manager at London's Adelphi, and served in a similar capacity at Covent Garden, the Surrey, the Olympic, and Drury Lane. Among his numerous titles are these:
Barnaby Rudge 1841
Bluejackets, The; or, Her Majesty's Service 1838, 1840, 1843
Bohemians, The; or, The Rogues of Paris 1843
Cabin Boy, The 1845, 1846, 1853
Captain Charlotte 1842
Children in the Wood, The; or, Harlequin Nobody 1842
Christmas Carol, A; or, Past, Present, and Future 1843, 1859
Clarisse; or, The Merchant's Daughter 1845
Cricket on the Hearth, The; or, A Fairy Tale of Home 1845
Fortunes of Smike, The; or, A Sequel to Nicholas Nickleby 1839
Giant of Palestine, The 1838
Harlequin Blue Beard; or, The Fairy of the Silver Crescent 1843
Industry and Indolence; or, The Orphan's Legacy 1845
Jane Lomax; or, A Mother's Curse 1838
Jockey Club, The 1846
Knight of the Dragon and the Queen of Beauty 1839
Love Gift, The; or, The Trials of Poverty 1842
Miser's Daughter, The (Harrison Ainsworth) 1842
Nicholas Nickleby; or, Doings at Do-the-Boys Hall! 1838, 1839
Old Curiosity Shop, The; or, One Hour from Humphrey's Clock 1840
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress 1838, 1840
Rifle Volunteers; or, Riflemen! Riflemen! Riflemen! Form! 1858
Serpent of the Nile, The; or, The Battle of Actium 1839
Tower of London, The; or, Og, Gog, and Magog (Ainsworth) 1840
Ulrica; or, The Prisoner of State 1843
Wanted a Wife; or, London, Liverpool and Bristol 1843
Wreck at Sea, The; or, The Fern Light 1838
Yankee Notes for English Circulation (Dickens) 1842.
Related material
- An Introduction to Edward Stirling's A Christmas Carol
- Stirling's A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future, A Burletta in Three Staves (text)
- Notes on Nineteenth-Century Words, Phrases, and Expressions in Edward Stirling's A Christmas Carol
Bibliography
Morley, Malcolm. "Curtain Up on A Christmas Carol. Dickensian 47 (1952): 149.
"Edward Stirling." Actors by Daylight; or, Pencillings in the Pit. London. April-December 1838.
Stirling, Edward. A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future. London: British Library: Manuscript Div., Lord Chamberlain's Collection. Add. MS. 42972, ff. 798-829; licensed 27/01/1844.
_____. Old Drury Lane: Fifty Years' Recollections, or Author, Actor, and Manager. London: Chatto and Windus, 1881.
Watts, Alan S., and Fleur Hogarth. "A Christmas Carol on Stage." The Dickens Magazine 7, 2 (April 2015): 26-27.
[To text of Edward Stirling's A Christmas Carol]
Created 27 March 2015