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)