Harvest 2024

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week at the Dragon Folk Club our Harvest themed session bore fruit. We started off strongly with the theme with plenty of bucolic ballads and songs, migrating to songs of the harvest of the sea, and from there to poaching and eventually to the harvest of mineral deposits. You know how it goes.

Colin sowed the seed with John Barleycorn (roud 164) to the tune Wir Pflügen (We plough the fields and scatter). Denny followed him in the same furrow with Hey John Barleycorn (roud 2141) and Simon, not one to go against the grain, sang Windmills (Alan Bell). You'll be pleased to know I can't keep this up beyond the first (crop) rotation.

It wasn't the first time Colin had sung Linstead Market (roud 16397), but it's worth a mention as something a bit different, being in the mento style.

Both songs from the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below, were sung by Colin and from the pen of Chris Sugden: All things dark and dangerous, and The stick of rhubarb.

At risk of monopoly, Colin sang both songs of the evening not previously recorded in the Dragon database, though quite possibly previously sung at the club: Our Sarah (roud 16652) and The harvest supper song (roud 1379) - the linked recording of Sheepshearing sung by The Watersons is the same song though the words may not be identical.

Possibly the first to break from country pursuits and head for the fishing grounds was Denny with John Conolly's Fiddlers Green. Hot on her heels was Simon with Candlelight fisherman (roud 1852).

Colin threw in a curve ball with Forever Autumn (Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass). Too late for the playlist, but I have now found the original Osborne and Vigrass recording of Forever Autumn from their 1972 album Queues. Actually, the real original was Jeff Wayne's jingle for a Lego advert before the words were added by Osborne and Vigrass.

Simon was the champion of poaching with The Lincolnshire poacher (roud 299) and Geordie (roud 90, child 209). Denny's Cadgwith anthem (roud 3314) may also just qualify.

Colin's tenuous link at this stage was Goin' Home (William Arms Fisher) set to that part of Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony later used to advertise bread in Hovis commercials.

Denny was first to take us harvesting the black stuff with I can hew boys (Dave Dodds), but Simon soon followed her down the mine winging Dark as a dungeon (Merle Travis).

It fell to Simon to bring in the sheaves with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

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