Christmas 2022

Last minute Christmas shopping (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Those who didn't make the Dragon Folk Club's Christmas session last Friday missed a good sing... and some mince pies. As might be expected, most of the songs were more or less Christmas themed.

Colin as MC kicked us off with The Kipper Family's Good King Whence the Last, which you will understand is a parody of Good King Wenceslas.

We had a great variety of songs. Songs about wars like Christmas 1914 (Mike Harding) and Stop the cavalry (Jona Lewie), carols such as Gaudete (From Piæ Cantiones - Finland, 1582) and I saw three ships (William Sandys), the standard The Christmas Song (Robert Wells, Mel Tormé), songs from around the world like The Huron Carol (Jean de Brébeuf) and Mon Beau Sapin (Ernst Anschütz, Laurent Delcasso), and more comedy pieces such as Merry Christmas you suckers (Paddy Roberts) and Sam Small's Christmas pudding (Marriott Edgar).

I think that will do for this report. Please remember we are having a two week Christmas break this year and the next Dragon session will be in the usual place at the usual time on 6 January 2023. See you there!

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

(Number of people present - 2 of whom 2 performed)

Not quite there

I'm afraid I've run out of time this week for writing the blog report, so you'll just have to listen to the playlist linked from "a selection" below if you want to see some of what we did at last week's session.

In the meantime this week (Friday, 16th December) will be our Christmas session before a brief two week hiatus. Please come along and raise the roof with songs of Christmas, mid-winter and bah humbug.

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

(Number of people present - 3 of whom 3 performed)

St Andrew's Day 2022

St Andrew

So I failed last week. I said there wouldn't be a theme and there was. We were very close to St Andrew's Day and so the two of us who turned up managed to sing almost exclusively Scottish songs.

Before I move on there is a very important announcement about our upcoming sessions over the next few weeks, December 2022 into January 2023.

• Friday 9th December the session will have no theme
• Friday 16th December will be our Christmas themed session
• Friday 23rd December there will be no session.
• Friday 30th December there will be no session.
• Friday 6th January will be our New Year / Twelfth Night themed session

Having noted the Fridays when we don't have a session, please come along when there is one to swell the ranks whether to sing, play, recite or to listen.

Back down to last Friday, Colin gave me a bit of a challenge with his first two songs, neither of which could be found on YouTube. He started the evening off with Loch Ness Monster (Iain C MacKintosh, Hamish Imlach) and continued with Canadian Jean Blewett's poem St Andrew's Day - A Toast, which Colin put to music.

Simon's first song of the evening was The Handweaver and the Factory Maid (roud 17771)

You can listen to all of the other songs we sang in the playlist linked below except for a song which Colin offered called The Broo Road of which I have failed to find any trace.

It was also Colin who finished off the evening with Air falalalo.

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

(Number of people present - 2 of whom 2 performed)