Bonny Miller, Author at Bonny Miller

The American composer Augusta Browne was not Lady Augusta Browne (1838–1909), ninth child and sixth daughter of Howe Peter [Browne], 2^nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845). A photograph of Lady Augusta Browne is frequently displayed and misidentified as an image of the composer. The two unrelated women were born in Ireland almost twenty years apart. Lady Augusta Browne sat for portraits and photographs because she was a member of the minor British peerage in Ireland. Her carte-de-visite from the 1860s belongs to the National Portrait Gallery in London. Lady Augusta Browne never married and led a quiet life in Westport, County Mayo.

Lady Augusta Browne
by Numa Blanc & Cie
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax46406

The image of Lady Augusta Browne in the Victorian-era photo does not depict the American composer.

A Musing

By Bonny Miller

On January 16, 2025

In Posts

Anagrams entice me: the same letters rearranged to yield a different word, such as begin/being. The words encapsulate the chicken and egg dilemma; that is, when does the being begin? This anagram sits at the heart of the debate on life and reproduction. Small words, big implications. Indeed, Mr. Anu Garg of https://wordsmith.org opines, “All life’s wisdom can be found in anagrams. Anagrams never lie.”

See and Hear Music by Augusta Browne

By Bonny Miller

On November 20, 2023

In Augusta Browne

Where can I see sheet music by Augusta Browne? How can I hear music by Augusta Browne? These are the questions people ask most frequently about the composer. On the Music Editions page of this website, you will find links to open-access databases that include nineteenth-century imprints of music by Browne. The Music Editions page lists more than eighty music titles available online. The entries are arranged by genre (piano pieces; songs; hymns), then alphabetically by title.

Look for “Listen to the Music” links on the Music Editions page for online performances of music by Augusta Browne. Some renditions are recorded performances, others are audio files generated from Finale music notation software.

Raisin Oatmeal “Conference Cookies”

By Bonny Miller

On November 11, 2023

In Posts

By request, here’s the recipe! I call them “Conference Cookies” because the recipe makes a big batch, enough to last through the SCMTA (South Carolina Music Teachers Association) conference.

No cookie from the grocery store had ever tasted as good as these soft raisin cookies when I made them for the first time when I was in seventh grade. The original recipe came from General Foods Kitchens’ All About Home Baking (6^th edition, 1963; note dog-eared cover and stained pages), a booklet we used in my Home Economics class. These days I substitute instant oatmeal in place of nuts to steer clear of nut allergies.

Music, History, Women, and Heritage

Author: Bonny Miller Page 1 of 6

Who was Lady Augusta Browne? Not the American Composer.

A Musing

See and Hear Music by Augusta Browne

Raisin Oatmeal “Conference Cookies”