Christmas 2024 (Part 1)

Vancouver (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was the first of two we are having with a Christmas theme. It was an excellent evening not least because Keith G joined us for the first time in a while. To our surprise Keith has given up the guitar which he played so well in favour of the piano, and as such he brought along a keyboard with which to accompany his singing. We'll forgive his bending of our "rule" that anything goes as long as it's acoustic on the basis that a piano is acoustic, but difficult to haul in from the car park, never mind to fit in the car.

This Friday's session (20 December 2024) will be our second Christmas themed one, but in recognition that some of us may be running a bit low on strictly seasonal songs let's widen it out a bit. We have missed Saint Nicholas' Day which was on 6th December, but since he is so closely associated with Christmas, let's consider his patronages which include: children, coopers, travellers, sailors, fishermen, merchants, toymakers, broadcasters, the falsely accused, repentant thieves, brewers, pharmacists, archers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, Aberdeen, Galway, Albania, Russia, Greece, Liverpool, Moscow, Amsterdam, and Lorraine. That should give some scope. Also remember various Christmas traditions around the UK, Europe and the world such as Krampus (Austria) and Zwarte Piet (Netherlands).

Back to last Friday, there was a suggestion that we broke the record for songs sung in an evening at the Dragon Folk Club. This is a slightly controversial claim, mostly because it relies on double-counting a medley performed by Keith, but also because some other songs (if not performances) were arguably double counted. Nevertheless, the YouTube playlist below includes a full forty nine songs, omitting just one from the evening; that being The first hard sell sung by Colin and from the pen of Christopher Hershey.

Some people enjoy seeing which songs are new to the Dragon database, though as ever not necessarily new to the club, so they are marked below with an asterisk (*).

Colin started off the session with the version of Sweet bells (roud 936 - Nahum Tate) remembered from childhood by Kate Rusby who grew up in the Sheffield carol tradition. This is where the controversy starts since Colin's (and Kate's) version of Sweet bells is in fact a mash-up between Sweet Bells and While shepherds watched, and Denny's first song of the evening was Cranbrook (roud 936 - Nahum Tate, Thomas Clark). Sheffield carols are often known by their tune rather than their words, and in this case it is While shepherds watched to the tune better known these days as being used for Ilkley Moor bah't 'at. If this doesn't muddy the waters enough, Denny later sang Sweet chiming bells (roud 24506), which is another version of the Sheffield carol with which Colin started the evening.

Simon's first song of the evening was Gaudete, sung in Latin and from the manuscript From Piæ Cantiones, a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582, and compiled by Jacobus Finno, a clergyman and headmaster.

Paul started his evening off in a light-hearted mood with Dominick the donkey (* Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg, Wandra Merrell). Since Keith was yet to arrive that finished off the first rotation.

Paul was next to add to the controversy, singing The holly and the ivy (roud 514) and later coming up with the Sans day carol (roud 514), which is considered to be a variant of the same song.

The real controversy though came with the arrival of Keith G and his combining of two songs: Is you is or is you ain't my baby (* Billy Austin, Louis Jordan) and Hit the road Jack (* Percy Mayfield). If we consider these as two performances, as Colin is inclined to do, then fifty songs and an all-time club record was scored; if we don't then the record was equalled at forty nine.

Keith's next song, this time from the singing of Bonnie Raitt, was Too long at the fair (* Joel Zoss) and he went on to give us an improvised version of Love is the sweetest thing (* Ray Noble).

With the main controversy over, let's just list a few more notable performances (not that others weren't also notable):

• Colin - The forest carol (* Leonard Clark, Johnny Coppin)
• Paul - Carol of the creatures (* Sydney Carter)
• Keith - Light your windows (* Gary Duncan and David Freiberg of Quicksilver Messenger Service)
• Paul - Herod and the cock (* roud 306, child 55)
• Keith - Drinking alone (* Graeme Douglas, Will Birch of the Kursaal Flyers)
• Denny - See amid the winter snow (* Edward Caswall)

That left it to Paul to finish off the evening with an unusual version of I saw three ships (* roud 700) known as the ‘Crawn’ version. It was collected in 1895 from a Humber estuary boatman, and ultimately published by Baring-Gould in his Garland of Country Songs in the same year. It finally makes sense out of the puzzle of why three ships appear in the Christmas narrative at all. Legend has it that the skulls (‘crawns’ = ‘craniums’ = ‘crowns’?) of the ‘Kings’ or ‘Wise Men’ were taken and lodged in the cathedral at Cologne.

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

To the sea via Scotland and Lancashire

USS Tennessee was originally named
USS Madawaska in 1865 and
was renamed in 1869

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session combined songs left over from the previous week's dual themes of Scotland and Lancashire with quite a number of songs from or about the sea as well as some references to the imminent extreme weather (Storm Darragh was to bring gale force winds). As always, you can listen to most of the songs we sang by following the link from "a selection" below to the YouTube playlist set up for the purpose.

This Friday (13th December) the theme will be Christmas, so you can show your love for the festival your "bah humbug" or simply appreciate the related historical and/or religious themes. As always the theme is optional so anything goes as long as it's acoustic. And if that wasn't enough, next week's theme (20th December) will be "Christmas Leftovers". Yes, at the DFC we like to get started early on the turkey fricassée.

Remember that 27th December will be one of those rare Fridays when we don't meet, so save up those New Year and Twelfth Night songs for 3rd January when we will be back in the swing of it.

Returning to last week's session, Simon was unusually early arrival and so was asked to start: he sang The twa magicians (roud 1350, child 44). Colin followed on with Pay me my money down (roud 21449). Paul's first song of the evening was The leaving of Liverpool (roud 9435) and Denny gave us Ye Jacobites by name (roud V31021). The original song simply attacked the Jacobites from a contemporaneous Whig point of view, but Robert Burns rewrote it in around 1791 to give a version with a more general, humanist anti-war, but nonetheless anti-Jacobite outlook. This is the version that most people know today.

Like the week before there were no songs sung during the evening that were new to the Dragon database. There was just one song that couldn't be found on YouTube and is therefore not included in the linked playlist. There may be a very good reason for that...

The song in question, sung by Colin, was The war junk Tennessee (Willis). According to The Beaufort Tribune and Port Royal Commercial of 8th March 1877, "on board the United States steamer Tennessee a pleasant minstrel entertainment was given by the enlisted men. Among the features of the performance was a 'Chinese opera,' composed by a well known sailor poet and author, Willis, a quarter-gunner on the ship, who comes honestly by his knack of rhyme". It goes on to say that Willis was the nephew of Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), an American writer, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Presumably "Willis" was the son of NP's brother, Richard Storrs Willis who was a composer, mostly of hymn tunes.

The Beaufort Tribune continues that the song "is supposed to be sung in the character of a Chinese tailor, who sought a contract for supplying the crew with clothing."

The session was closed by Denny who sang Come by the hills (W Gordon Smith).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

St Andrew's Day 2024 (with added Lancashire)

The Lancashire Fusilier pulling
The Jacobite (Hogwarts Express)
over the Glenfinnan Viaduct
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was officially themed for St Andrew's Day. Saint Andrew is patron saint of Scotland among many other things. However Denny asked us also to consider that it was the week of Lancashire Day, her native county, and therefore that was a secondary theme.

Before getting down to business, it's worth pointing out that this week's Dragon session (6th December) will be themeless before we make the big move to Christmas on 13th, and have a premature Christmas leftovers (turkey curry, etc.) session on 20th. 27th December will be a very rare Friday of rest for the Dragon before we come back with a bang for New Year and a slightly early Twelfth Night on 3rd January. It's important to note that our themes are always optional and therefore anything goes at the Dragon as long as it's acoustic.

Back to last Friday, we had a variety of approaches. Colin and Paul stuck with Scotland, while Denny concentrated on Lancashire and Simon alternated between the two. Remember that Lancashire was considered to be the traditional county which includes places no longer in it such as Liverpool, Manchester and Salford.

Colin, MC as usual, started off with Dougie MacLean's Ready for the storm. Simon started off with a song which he obtained from a Scottish source (Scotch Measure, Jim and Sylvia Barnes), but which he has hear attributed not only to Scotland, but also to Ireland and even to Lancashire! The song is The handweaver and the factory maid (roud 17771).

Paul remained firmly north of the border with A Scottish soldier (Andy Stewart) and Denny comlpeted the first rotation in Lancashire with a monologue: The lion and Albert (Marriott Edgar). Edgar was in fact born in Scotland, but his father and two aunts were born in Lancashire, so this actually hits both themes.

At this stage I'll say that unusually there were no additions to the Dragon database this week, and there was only one song not to be found on YouTube, and therefore not in the playlist linked from "a selection" below. That lone song is The pickled herring man (Cathy Wallis).

I could end this report there and fast forward to the last song of the evening, which indeed came slightly earlier than usual when the pub closed prematurely. Presumably the closure was due to lack of customers, and we might have predicted it would be so since all of us managed to park on the pub forecourt when we arrived: a very uncommon occurrence.

Nevertheless, let's have a look first at a handful of our other notable performances of the evening - not that all are not notable.

Paul referred to his apparently fictional collection of Judith Durham records before singing The Eriskay Love Lilt. [Ed: I have some albeit from my father's collection, but I definitely grew up with The Seekers on the record player]

Denny revisited to the plight of a small boy in Blackpool with Albert's return (Marriott Edgar).

In The Hielan' man perhaps Colin selected one of the rarer songs of the evening, and one with its own challenges to the researcher being from the pen of Scotsman Matt McGinn, not to be confused with the Irish Matt McGinn or the American Matt McGinn, or indeed the English Matt McGinn.

Simon warned before singing Mike Harding's Small high window (a Lancashire contribution) that he might end up drifting into too higher key. In the end he admitted that the actual problem was more one of over-compensation and signing in his boots.

After a request from the pub staff to finish quickly there was a hasty last round which finished with Denny singing Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

All bets off for one week

(AI image from Stable Diffusion)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was a bit in between - in between themes in this season of themes. Its predecessor was Remembrance and this Friday it will be St Andrew's Day. More of that in a moment. Without a theme it gave people absolute freedom. Simon had quite a few war-themed songs left over from Remembrance while Colin thought he would lift the previous week's mainly sombre mood with some more cheerful ditties. Paul and Denny brought us a variety of seasonal, unseasonable and sing-along offerings.

So, to this Friday's theme (29th November). St Andrew, whose saint's day is on 30th November, is of course best known as the patron saint of Scotland, so anything Scottish or about Scotland will do. Also bear in mind Andrews other patronages include: Barbados, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Amalfi, Manila and Prussia; fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, and farm workers.

If that doesn't give you scope enough, on Denny's request there will be a secondary theme of Lancashire Day (27th November). Remember that the county of Lancashire traditionally includes Manchester, Salford and Liverpool, none of which are in the current county, but all are fair game for the session.

Then, of course, our themes are always optional, so anything goes as long as it's acoustic, though with all that themery to go on we can probably find a tenuous connection for almost any song.

Back to last week, Colin, MC as usual, started us off with The Seven Wonders (*), credited as Welsh traditional, arranged by Maddy Prior and June Tabor who acquired it from Mick Tems of Pontardawe. Tems wrote on mudcat.org:

"The Seven Wonders is a 19th century translation of the song Y Saith Rhyfeddod, which comes from the Bala region of North Wales, collected by the Welsh Folk Song Society early in the 20th century. It falls into the same class of song as Martin Said To His Man and The Derby Ram... wild boasts, impossible achievements etc.

"I heard it sung as The Seven Wonders by an old farmer at the Gwyn Arms in Glyntawe, at the upper end of the Swansea Valley in South Wales, around 1971. We used to go to the pub for sessions and some of the locals would join in. I wish I had been more interested in collecting at that time...

"The words I heard sung were very close to a printed version, translated by Ieuan Ddu (the bardic name of the 19th century writer John Thomas). June heard me sing it c. 1976 and asked if she could have it. Other singers who took it up included Roy Harris and Pete and Chris Coe. June and Maddy changed the words considerably for the Silly Sisters album (perhaps there was an outstanding copyright on the John Thomas translation)."

Paul's first song was Adieu Sweet lovely Nancy (roud 165) and Denny's was Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie). Simon gave us Elizabeth Padgett's The Plover Catcher which brought the first rotation to its end.

Other songs that I need to mention this week are:

• Paul - Tracks in the snow (Steve Thomason) - not in the YouTube playlist but click on the title here to listen
• Denny - Follow me 'ome (* Rudyard Kipling, Peter Bellamy)
• Colin - Sicknote: the reply (Stanley Accrington) - not in the YouTube playlist
• Colin - Green peace, really green (* Geoff Pearson)
• Colin - Five o'clock in the morning (* roud V652) - not in the YouTube playlist

Colin rounded off the evening with The blackbird (Pete Budd, Tommy Banner, Tony Baylis).

(An asterisk "*" by a song indicates that it is new to the Dragon database, and may or may not be new to the club)

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

Remembrance 2024

Remembrance Sunday parade, Bristol 2023
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

11th November is Remembrance Day or Armistice Day in the UK, so the Dragon Folk Club session on 15th was our annual Remembrance theme. Traditionally we include anything to do with war, anti-war sentiment and wartime songs. We stayed reasonably well on topic though there are a few songs where you might struggle to find the link.

This Friday we have a break from themes with an entirely themeless session, so anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

The following week (Friday 29th) will be our St Andrews Day theme, where anything relevant to Scotland or St Andrew will be ideal. It has been suggested that since Lancashire Day is on 27th we should have that as a second theme, and that's fine. Remember that the traditional county of Lancashire also includes Manchester, Salford and Liverpool, so that gives plenty of scope! Remember also that all our themes are optional, so ultimately anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Let's get back to last week's session. It was started by Colin, our MC, with Robert Garioch's Kriegie Ballad (*). I've marked it with an asterisk as being new to the Dragon database though it has previously been mentioned there. In 2019 our good friend Derek sang a song he called The Kriegie Ballad which somewhat resembled Garioch's song, but instead of starting "Yes this is the place we were took Sir", its first line was "We sailed on the good ship Rapallo". While Garioch's song is easier to find on the web than the one Derek sang I still haven't found it on YouTube and it is therefore not included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below.

Denny sang Cicely Fox Smith's Half past eleven square recalling the destruction of French towns in the First World War. Paul followed with the non-wartime destruction of Close the coalhouse door (Alex Glasgow).

Simon completed the first rotation with The Accrington Pals, the first of three Mike Harding songs which he sang together with one other which Harding recorded but didn't write:

• Bombers' moon (Mike Harding)
• Jimmy Spoons (Mike Harding)
• The band played Waltzing Matilda (Eric Bogle)

Colin added two more new entries to the Dragon database:

• Mademoiselle from Armentières (* roud 4703 -  a clean version of course)
• We haven't got a hope in the morning (A song from a book of songs used by 54th Wing of the RFC - not included in the YouTube playlist)

This last song started the final rotation of the evening which continued with Denny singing White cockade (roud 709) and Paul with Lowlands (roud 681). Simon finished off the evening with the junior school version of Boney was a warrior (roud 485).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

Guy Fawkes Night 2024

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was our annual Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night theme. Anything about fireworks, fires, camping, or typical campfire songs was fair game and we did pretty well at sticking, albeit sometimes tenuously, to the theme.

This Friday the theme will be Remembrance, which you might also frame as armistice, war songs, anti-war songs, wartime songs... and in any case the theme is, as always, optional, so ultimately anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Colin as MC got the ball rolling with the first of several songs he sang that were actually about Guy Fawkes, a feat the rest of us didn't match. His first was Penny for the Guy (* Leon Rosselson). This was the first of eight songs from the evening which were new to the Dragon database, but not necessarily all new to the club. Such songs are marked here with an asterisk (*).

Paul had not been present at the previous week's Halloween themed session so he harked back to the spooks with Sweet William's ghost (roud 50, child 77).

Denny proposed singing by the campfire Ten green bottles (* roud 7603). It was hard to choose videos to link for some of the songs this week. In this case I chose the one which gave the option of clicking through to a version of the song in mandarin, which I thought was quite cool.

Simon got his mention of bonfires in early, the second line, with Brian Bedford's This is the way the world ends, and so ended the first rotation.

Colin's next song was Guy Fawkes, Prince of sinister (* roud 4974), a humorous take on Guy Fawkes which dates from about 1800.

Colin's song on the following round was one he had sung before, but I have found more information. The grand old duke of York (roud 742) is a traditional nursery rhyme, but the version he sang was an extended one from a children's book illustrated by Maureen Roffrey and written by Roffrey together with Bernard Lodge, a British graphic designer best known for his work on early series of BBC TV's Doctor Who.

Paul sang the first song of the night not to be found on YouTube and therefore not included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below. It was Jon Heslop's comedic mashup of two traditional songs entitled Dead knight behind the hedge, which you can hear by clicking on that link.

I was disappointed not to find a recording, or really any mention, of Richard Digance's Boy scout song, which Colin sang. It used to be there, but it seems almost all trace of it has been removed from the web, not just from YouTube.

Another song not in the playlist was sung by Simon: When the scouts come hiking in, predictably to the tune of When the saints go marching in.

Colin introduced us to Quick's new speech for the fifth of November on the downfall of Guy Fawkes (* roud V27114), a broadside ballad published by JV Quick in the second quarter of the 19th century. The writing, printing and selling of the ballads that usually included a Guy Fawkes speech began in October in preparation for the bonfire celebrations on 5th November. In order to boost sales publishers attempted to vary the speeches from year to year. In this example the publisher announces in the title of his broadside that this year he is publishing an entirely 'new speech for the 5th of November.'

I know for a fact that Denny's performance of Norwegian Wood (This bird has flown) (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) isn't a first for the club, but it is a new entry in the Dragon database. I remember Keith G playing it as an instrumental when he had forgotten something: his word sheet or his glasses, but I can't guarantee to remember which.

Colin's I love to go a-gorging, a parody of The Happy Wanderer (roud 25580), is another song not found on YouTube as was his song Devil and the washerwoman.

Paul sang Salty young sea dog (Graham Holland), which was yet another not found on YouTube, which is proving quite weak this week. He went on to score a database entry with One man went to mow (* roud 143).

The final new entry in the database this week came from Colin and was Porridge tragedy (*).

The final song of the evening came from Paul who, inspired by Colin's singing of the same song on another occasion, gave us The Scaffold's 2 day's Monday (Mike McGear, Roger McGough and John Gorman).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

Halloween 2024

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

It'll be a very quick report for last week's Dragon Folk Club session I'm afraid. Perhaps back to normal service next week. Being in the full flow of themes season, we were going all spooky for Halloween and we seem to have met the theme pretty well most of the time. This Friday the theme is related to Bonfire Night, so anything about Guy Fawkes, fireworks, campfires, camping, scouts and guides or anything tenuously related would work just fine, and as always it's an optional theme so anything really goes as long as it's acoustic.

Colin started us off as usual, this time with Hallows eve (Chris Hoban). Simon offered his only real Halloween song with The souling song (roud 304). Bob went all ghoulish with Ghost trains (Famous Lashua) from the singing of Hank Snow and Sue finished the first rotation with Hotel California (Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey).

The one song of the evening not on YouTube and therefore not included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below was Sue's own composition A chilly song, written in the depths of winter with some reference to our venue.

There were four songs new to the Dragon database last week though not necessarily new to the club:

• Bob - See that my grave is kept clean (roud 7382, Blind Lemon Jefferson)
• Bob - Walking to New Orleans (Bobby Charles, Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew)
• Colin - Father Frankenstein is behind your pillow (James Warren)
• Colin - Fifteen men on a dead man's chest (Robert Louis Stevenson, Young Ewing Allison)

It fell to Sue to close the session which she did with Make you feel my love (Bob Dylan).

Now listen to a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)