Editing Ouida (section)

==Influence==
The British composer [[Frederic Hymen Cowen]] and his librettists [[Gilbert Arthur à Beckett]], H. A. Rudall, and [[Frederic Edward Weatherly]] acquired the rights to Ouida's 1875 novel ''Signa'' to create an opera for [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]]'s [[Royal English Opera House]] to succeed [[Arthur Sullivan]]'s ''[[Ivanhoe (opera)|Ivanhoe]]'' in 1891. Between Cowen not being ready with his work and the collapse of Carte's venture, Cowen eventually took his finished opera ''[[Signa (opera)|Signa]]'' to Italy with an Italian translation of the original English text by G.A. Mazzucato.  After many delays and production troubles, Cowen's ''Signa'' was first performed in a reduced three-act version at the [[Teatro Dal Verme]], [[Milan]] on 12 November 1893. After further revision and much cutting, it was later given in a two-act version at [[Covent Garden]], [[London]] on 30 June 1894, at which point Cowen wondered if there was any sense left in the opera at all. Ouida's impression of the work is unknown.

[[Image:OUIDA memorial.jpg|thumb|Ouida Memorial, formerly a drinking fountain, in [[Bury St Edmunds]], Suffolk]]

Later, [[Pietro Mascagni]] bought the rights for her story "Two Little Wooden Shoes", intending to adapt it for an opera. His friend [[Giacomo Puccini]] became interested in the story and began a court action, claiming that because Ouida was in debt, the rights to her works should be put up for public auction to raise funds for creditors. He won the court challenge and persuaded his publisher Ricordi to bid for the story. After Ricordi won, Puccini lost interest and never composed the opera. Mascagni later composed one based on the story, under the title ''[[Lodoletta]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pietro Mascagni and His Operas|last=Mallach|first=Alan|publisher=Northeastern University Press|year=2002|isbn=9781555535247|location=Boston Massachusetts|pages=211}}</ref>

Spiritualist [[Helen Peters Nosworthy]] was wearing a locket containing Ouida's portrait and signature that seemed to spell out ouija during a 1890 [[seance]] in which Nosworthy asked a talking board to name itself and it responded O-U-I-J-A. Nosworthy and brother-in-law [[Elijah Bond]] were granted a patent for the [[ouija board]] the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lithub.com/out-of-the-shadows-on-the-forgotten-mothers-of-the-occult/|title=Out of the Shadows: On the Forgotten Mothers of the Occult|website=[[LitHub]]|first=Lisa|last=Kröger|author2=Melanie R. Anderson|date=31 October 2022|access-date=7 October 2023}}</ref>