ABSTRACT
William Henry Abbott, the younger, followed in the footsteps of his father into the practice of law as a solicitor in Calcutta; he also succeeded his father as registrar to the diocese of Calcutta in 1862. In 'The Chee-Chee Ball', an embodied narrator describes in mock romantic terms the courtship of two young people of mixed European and Indian heritage. Abbott wrote over a number of years for the Calcutta periodicals, including the Englishman, the Indian Daily News, and the Oriental Sporting Magazine; the ‘Inevitable Preface’ to Lyrics and Lays states that the works contained therein are reprinted from these sources. The interaction of British and Indians, depicted in comic mode, is a favourite topic, and three texts in this category are included. In ‘The Chee-Chee Ball’, an embodied narrator describes in mock romantic terms the courtship of two young people of mixed European and Indian heritage.
