A MALAY NAUTCH.
by
Frank A. Swettenham.
Read at a Meeting of the Society held on the 5th August 1878.
It was in the early part of 1875 that, being sent on a Mission to the Bandahara of Pahang. I witnessed. what I have never seen elsewhere in the Malay Peninsula or the Straits Settlements, a Malay Nautch.
I have of course. like most other people here I suppose, repeatedly witnessed Malays dancing and singing during the Muharam, especially in Penang: I have several times alsc been present at a Malay "Mayung." a kind of theatrical performance, with some dancing and much so-called singing:— the performers, as a rule, being a travelling company of three or four men and perhaps one woman, who make their living by their performances, and play either at the invitation of a Raja in his own house, or before the public on a stage erected in the middle of the Street.
Had the performance I now describe nearly resembled any of those commonly seen here, or in the Peninsula, there could be little interest in this description. but in the belief that the sight as I saw it is a rare one, seldom witnessed by Europeans, and so far undescribed, I have ventured to offer it, as it may, to some, be interesting.
The journey to Pahang and what occurred there I shall not speak of. for they have no bearing on the nautch. It will be sufficient to say that this was not my first visit to that state, that the Bandahara Ahmed and his chiefs were well known to me, and that whilst awaiting the Bandahara's decision in an important matter, for which I had already been delayed several days, we (for I had a companion) were invited to attend a Nautch at the Bandahara's Balei.
