 It was at a rehearsal for "Ages Ago" that Clay formally introduced Gilbert to his friend, Arthur Sullivan.The Bab Ballads and Gilbert's many early musical works gave him much practice as a lyricist even before his collaboration with Sullivan.Many of the plot elements of the German Reed Entertainments (as well as some from his earlier plays and Bab Ballads) would be reused by Gilbert later in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.