Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Ashley, John

Ashley, John, of Bath, received his musical education from his elder brother, Josiah Ashley, an eminent flutist and hautboy player of his day. He has been a performer on the bassoon at the Bath concerts and theatre during nearly half a century, and was also a vocalist at the concerts, Harmonic Society, and Vauxhall of the same city. The sister art of poetry, or, as he has termed it, rhyming, was combined with the above professional pursuits, as may be seen by a volume he published, called "Trifles in Rhyme." With regard to music, Ashley never aspired to any thing great in composition ; his efforts were confined to ballads and songs, serious and comic ; and it is believed that he has written the words to, and composed more of, these trifles, which have been sung by eminent performers, and favorably received by the public, than any English composer of his time. The following is a list of some of Ashley's compositions : ballads, "Honest Ben," "Poor Joe the Marine,"The Sailor's Creed," "The Heart that o'erflows," "Poor Orphan Maid," "Tom an 1 Susan," "Unanimity ; " songs, "England's King," "Bundle of Proverbs," "Rhyme with-out Reason," "Boney at Bayonne," "Origin o Old Bachelors," "Wonderful Song," "Lads of the Ocean," &c., &c.