Introduction
There were a number of entertainment outlets available before and for a while after the advent of the Music Hall. For the well off and largely idle, since they started late and finished in the early hours, there were the Song and Supper Rooms. There were four all in the West end and particularly well known. The area was bounded by St. James and Temple Bar. They were said to be often visited by Thackery and Dickens and used in their writings.
Some argue that the Song and Supper Rooms were the precurser to the Music Halls. This is not the case even though much of the entertainment, the songs etc were later enjoyed in the new Music Halls.
The Halls sprang from the haunts of the working class, the pubs with their harmonic meetings. Although many of the artists found their way to the halls, these were people who would work wherever there was money to pay for their talents.