The 29th of February has come and gone. Leap year.
In celebration of that day, I offer the following song from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "The Pirates of Penzance." It's one of my favourite plays, and one of the threads in the story is that the protagonist (Frederick) has finally come of age. He was bound as a small child in an apprenticeship to a band of daffy pirates until he reaches his 21st birthday.
Well, as the fates have it, it is discovered that he was born in a leap-year, and thus will not be freed from his indentures for many more birthdays.
Here is a sing-along to celebrate, courtesy of YouTube impressario Lukas McCormack.
A terrible disclosure
Has just been made. Mabel, my dearly-loved one,
I bound myself to serve the pirate captain
Until I reached my one-and-twentieth birthday –
I’ve just discovered
That I was born in leap-year, and that birthday
Will not be reached by me till nineteen forty!
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