With or without bangs

Enola Gay on display at the National Air and Space Museum,
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Another great evening at the Dragon Folk Club. Having got through the recent part of the festival season unscathed our numbers were indeed swelled. We even had another possible "catch" for the future among the ladies who walked through our room given that their principle toilet is still out of action - I am sure manager Mike is on the case, but these things take time.

Since the session fell on VJ-Day and the previous week's session should have marked the 80th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Colin announced an impromptu, naturally optional, war and anti-war theme, which he kicked off with The sun is burning (Ian Campbell).

Stuart and Carrie gave us two songs in duet: I'll tell me Ma (roud 2649) and Bonnie light horseman (roud 1185).

Simon returned to the anti-war theme with There but for fortune (Phil Ochs) and Rob sang his topical update of Jordan Is A Hard Road To Travel (roud 12153 - Dan Emmett) which he calls The other side of Jordan (Rob Winder).

Denny gave us The shores of old Blighty (Graeme Miles). Her friend and recent dragon recruit, Helen, contributed The rose (Amanda McBroom).

Bob brought along Call me the breeze (J J Cale) while Sue finished the first rotation with Lead Belly's Cotton fields (* roud 11662) - hands up who thought it was a Beach Boys original.

In researching this report I found that Lead Belly travelled with Blind Lemon Jefferson before his (Huddie's) first spell in prison. He was influenced by Jefferson's departures from the blues style which was being established, leading no doubt to his own near-rock'n'roll style of folk before the term was even invented.

I mention this because later in the session Bob sang Jefferson's See that my grave is kept clean (roud 7382). Bob hinted that Jefferson's later years were a mystery. It seems that's not quite true, but that is some uncertainty around his death. According to Wikipedia: "Jefferson died in Chicago at 10:00 a.m. on December 19, 1929, of what his death certificate said was 'probably acute myocarditis'. For many years, rumors circulated that a jealous lover had poisoned his coffee, but a more likely explanation is that he died of a heart attack after becoming disoriented during a snowstorm. Some have said that he died of a heart attack after being attacked by a dog in the middle of the night. In his 1983 book Tolbert's Texas, Frank X. Tolbert claims that he was killed while being robbed of a large royalty payment by a guide escorting him to Chicago Union Station to catch a train home to Texas. Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by the pianist William Ezell.

"Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (later Wortham Black Cemetery) in Wortham, Freestone County, Texas. His grave was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas historical marker was erected in the general area of his plot; however, the precise location of the grave is still unknown. By 1996, the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, and a new granite headstone was erected in 1997. The inscription reads: 'Lord, it's one kind favor I'll ask of you, see that my grave is kept clean.' In 2007, the cemetery's name was changed to Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery, and his grave-site is kept clean by a cemetery committee in Wortham."

Bob said that See that my grave is kept clean was his second most miserable song. We didn't find out what this blues-man's most miserable song was called, but Colin gave him a good run for his money with a theme-appropriate song which gave me a bit of a run-around. No doubt the song is quite well known, but my search for the words came up with the song's origins as a poem written by Turkish poet Nâzım Hikmet and called Kız Çocuğu (The girl child). In English translation the poem is called Hiroshima child. Joan Baez sings it in the original Turkish here, but Colin sang it as I come and stand at every door (*).

With all that story I will quickly run through the other songs which are new to the Dragon database:

• Stuart - Katie Cruel (* roud 1645), a version of The lightbob's lassie.
• Carrie - Drafted (* Andrew Latimer, Susan Hoover)
• Stuart - Running from home (* Bert Jansch)
• Rob - The gallant frigate Amphitrite (* roud 301)
• Rob - The maid and the palmer (* roud 2335, child 21)
• Helen - Have you ever seen the rain? (* John Fogerty)

Stuart and Carrie finished the session with a pair of songs: The hills of Shiloh (Shel Silverstein, Jim Friedman) and Fresh as a sweet Sunday morning (Bert Jansch).

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

(Number of people present - 9 of whom 9 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

Spanish Ladies?

Photo: Simon Meeds

After the previous week's rather good effort, last week's Dragon Folk Club session was more what we might expect for Sidmouth Folk Festival time. With some core dragons off enjoying the Devon sounds we were down to a skeleton crew, but nevertheless we had a good time and were able to welcome two visitors briefly in our midst.

The fact that the ladies' toilet wasn't working again was a mixed blessing. On the one hand there was a constant trickle of women walking though our room - all respectful, which was nice - but on the other we got to enjoy a song from our pub-local friend Allie, and we met another young lady who was very complimentary about our singing and who it seems may drop in on us again for a proper visit, perhaps even bringing along her mother who is a morris dancer. We were able to send both of our valued visitors away with our branded beer-mats to remind them to come back.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with Smith of Bristol, which is included in Dominic Behan's "Ireland sings: An anthology of modern and ancient Irish songs and ballads" (Dominic Behan)

One source claims that the origins of 'Smith of Bristol' can be traced back to the 17th century in Bristol, England. It was a popular sea shanty often sung by sailors and workers in the ports of Bristol. The song was originally known as 'Spanish Ladies' and was believed to be a traditional English folk song. However, in the 19th century, it was given the name 'Smith of Bristol' by the famous British song collector, William Chappell. The song gained popularity during the 19th and 20th centuries as it was sung by sailors on their long voyages. It was also a favorite among naval officers, and it is said that it was sung by the crew of the HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's voyage.

Simon's first song of the evening was Dolly Parton's Love is like a butterfly.

Given the small number of people present I will keep this fairly brief.

Colin's second song, was the first of two sung on the evening that is new to the Dragon database: The Chastity Belt (*). It was included in a musical revue called "Wait a Minim!" (1962-68) with original songs by Jeremy Taylor and listed as "Opening Knight". On the album of the show it is credited to Andrew Tracey, Paul Tracey, Jeremy Taylor. They may have written it or, it seems, may have obtained it as a joint effort between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the tune coming from Oxford.

On one of Allie's visits to the reserve ladies toilet she gave us her party piece of Here come the navvies (Ian Campbell). We already knew that Allie plays the saxophone (soprano I think), but we learnt that she also keeps bees.

The second new entry to the Dragon database came from Colin, and is a version of The mermaid (roud 124, child 289) sometimes called 'Twas in the broad Atlantic (* James Thomson, David Mallet) or Married to a mermaid.

In 1740, Thomson collaborated with Mallet on the masque Alfred which was first performed at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Thomson's words for "Rule, Britannia!", written as part of that masque and set to music by Thomas Arne, became one of the best-known British patriotic songs – quite distinct from the masque which is now virtually forgotten. The Prince gave him a pension of £100 per annum. In 1751 Mallet re-used the text of "Rule, Britannia!", omitting three of the original six stanzas and adding three new ones by Lord Bolingbroke, to form the repeated chorus of the comic song "Married to a Mermaid". This became extremely popular when Mallet produced his masque "Britannia" at Drury Lane Theatre in 1755.

We finished the session with a traditional closing song, led by Simon, Wild mountain thyme (Francis McPeake).

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

A trip across the border

Herring Gull on rubbish (Photo: Simon Meeds)

We didn't have high hopes of last week's Dragon Folk Club session, coinciding as it did with Sidmouth Folk Festival and therefore automatically ruling out some of our regular singers.  However, things were looking up when Mark appeared. It was Mark's first visit to the club, not surprisingly since he is a regular at Belper Folk Club, which is based in Derbyshire.

We were settling down to a good evening of four singers with one visitor when who should come through the door but our old friends Richard and Lesley who have long lived in far flung corners of Wales. We owed the visit to their wedding anniversary celebrations which would take place in Bristol over the weekend. Their profiles on this blog which are linked above are unsurprisingly a little out of date.

Colin, MC as usual, started things off with Butter and cheese and all (roud 510).

For his first song of the evening Roger had been inspired by a song he heard Colin sing some time ago. Tom Paxton's Ramblin' boy has therefore entered his repertoire.

Simon stayed on safe ground with Graham Moore's Tom Paine's bones.

Mark's first song was in fact a medley: Rag Fair / Down Where the Drunkards Roll from the singing of Damien  Barber and Mike Wilson. The component songs are of course Rag Fair (* roud 17180) and Down where the drunkards roll (Richard Thompson).

Richard marked his return to the Dragon with Lemady (* roud 193) and Lesley completed the first rotation with Pleasant and delightful (roud 660, laws O30).

Mark's second song was another medley, though of his own manufacture with both component songs being from the 2006 version of the BBC Radio Ballads. They were The Price (* John Tams) and Steelos (John Tams).

Yorkshire native Richard contributed his first Welsh of the evening with Fflat Huw Puw (* J Glynne Davies). Hugh Pugh's family came from the Dolgellau area, but he was born in the Princess Basin Liverpool, and at one time in his career, became master of the small flat ‘Ann’. The ‘Ann’ was built in Frodsham in 1799, registered in Liverpool till 1848, then sold to Caernarfon on August  4th 1848. Flats were shallow boats that were used to sail up rivers and the Ann sailed the Mersey, Dee, and the river Conway as far as Trefriw. She was 60 tons, had one mast and three of a crew. Her exact measurements were 61.8 ft long. 15ft 1in wide, and a draft of 6ft. 6in. She was described thus ‘Rigged with lifting Bowsprit, square sterned, Carvel built, has neither Galleries or figurehead’. Here's more of the story.

Although Lesley sang one of her old favourites, it seems it had never previously made it to the Dragon database, it being A blacksmith courted me (* roud 816).

Roger gave us one of this own songs: Expectations (*# Roger Stanleigh).

Mark sang what he suggested was Roger Watson's best song: Watercress-o (*). The song, written in 1965, was inspired by Roger's grandmother’s recollections of a watercress seller who had visited the back-to-back houses of the mining village where she had lived as a young woman. His grandfather had been a typical son of a mining family; he left school at the age of twelve and worked at the colliery until he retired.

Mark's next song was Cousin Jack (Steve Knightley) - I always try to mention every song sung by a brand new dragon.

Richard gave us his own song Full of superstitions (*# Richard Gillion) and Lesley sang Kathy's song (* Paul Simon).

Mark introduced us to a comedy song from the pen of Jez Lowe: Talk to me dirty in geordie. This started a mini-theme of songs inspired by the singing of that song. First Richard sang The bonny Gateshead lass (* Joe Wilson) then Simon sang The Lambton worm (roud 2337 - Clarence M. Leumane).

Leslie told us of a common hazard for tourists with Max Boyce's The seagulls of Llandudno (*). Staying in Wales and noting that the title applied to Lesley, Richard sang Merch Megan (*). The English translation of the title is "Megan's daughter", and Richard sang it partly in Welsh and partly in his own translation.

Roger finished off the session with Tom Springfield's Island of dreams (*).

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

What's Ozzy got to do with folk music?

Ozzy Osbourne in 2010

Yes, we were a bit thin on the ground at last week's Dragon Folk Club session, but we sang. There were no attempts for a record number of songs, just lots of chat and lots of singing.

Stand-in MC, Simon, started us off with Chase the dragon (* Keith Hancock) which Simon acquired from the singing of Gregson & Collister (Clive Gregson and Christine Collister) - Hancock and Gregson were school friends. Simon sang the song for the first time in a few years as a sort of sideways tribute to the recently deceased Ozzy Osbourne.

After earlier talk of children working in the mines, Rob decided to sing Frank Higgins' The testimony of Patience Kershaw (*), based on the report given by Kershaw, of Halifax, to the Children's Employment Commission of 1842. Rob said that Patience wasn't as well respected by the commission as the song implies.

Stan completed the first rotation by singing Return to me (* Carmen Lombardo, Danny Di Minno), first recorded by Dean Martin in 1958.

The one song of the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not in the playlist linked below was Rob's own Lost in the wild (Rob Winder).

Stan sang More than I can say (*), understandably mentioning the 1961 hit version by Bobby Vee, but it was written by two members of Buddy Holly's band The Crickets: Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison and was recorded by them in 1959 soon after Holly's death, being released in 1960. The link is strong because the then fifteen-year-old Vee was one of the musicians who volunteered to fill in with his brother Bill among others after singing stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash on 3rd February 1959. The stand-ins performed as a band which they named The Shadows on the spur of the moment. The band which already existed without a name modelled itself on Holly's style. This marked the beginning of Vee's career.

After some discussion of the 1960s and whether one remembers it Rob segued seamlessly and artfully into Shel Silverstein's monologue, The man who got no sign (*).

We had a mini links theme which started when Simon sang Roger Whittaker's Durham Town, which incorrectly places the city of Durham on the River Tyne. I incorrectly stated that Whittaker was South African. He was in fact born in Kenya to English parents although he enrolled at the University of Cape Town in 1956. He moved to Britain in 1959.

Rob's linked song was Back in Durham Gaol (*) written by Jez Lowe. Not only is the song about Durham, but Lowe is from County Durham.

Simon's next song also came from the pen of Jez Lowe, being The Bergen, which our friend Derek Brinkley once suggested may be the only song that has been about Seaton Carew.

Rob's last song of the evening was Bob Dylan's Just like Tom Thumb's blues (*). The penultimate song of the evening was Earth angel (Curtis Williams, Jesse Belvin, Gaynel Hodge) sung by Stan, followed ultimately by Simon inviting everyone present to raise their voices for 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)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

New faces and lots of "new" songs

Connie Francis in 1961

At last week's Dragon Folk Club is was great to see Paul and Denny swelling the numbers by bringing along Helen for her second experience of a session, and Quentin for his first. Helen had prepared some songs, which was great, but lack of preparation didn't stop Quentin from venturing three with the help of others present who provided the word sheets.

I know Helen enjoyed the experience and will be back; I think the same is true of Quentin. We're a friendly crowd; performing is encouraged and very welcome, but encouragement is just that, everyone should feel free to just sit and listen if they want to, maybe joining in with the odd chorus and some banter.

With Colin as MC, Roger was invited to start the session and he marked the recent death of Connie Francis by singing her 1960 hit Everybody's somebody's fool (* Jack Keller, Howard Greenfield) which made her the first woman to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Paul sang Peggy Gordon (roud 1180) and Denny gave us Idle women of the waterways (Charlotte Oliver).

Helen's first song of the evening was When I'm gone (roud 17255 - AP Carter) though some readers may know it better as Cups (A. P. Carter, Luisa Gerstein, Heloise Tunstall-Behrens), sung by Anna Kendrick in the film Pitch Perfect (2012). As I've said many times, I'm always sceptical when I see AP Carter as the writer of a song because, under the instruction of his publisher, he often took traditional songs, made a very minor change to them, and claimed US copyright. I don't hold that against him personally, but it was certainly a sharp practise by the music industry albeit presumably one seen to have no victim. I am sure he is not alone in being a victim or beneficiary, depending on how you look at it, of this way of working.

As already noted, Quentin had come to the session without any songs, but he seemed keen to contribute. He said he might manage a Beatles' song, so Roger dug out the words to You've got to hide your love away (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) and he sang it with guitar accompaniment from Roger.

Colin's first musical contribution was the Bee Gees' New York mining disaster 1941 (* Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb).

Simon returned us to traditional songs (we don't really mind what you sing) with Claudy Banks (roud 266, laws N40).

By the time it came to his turn, Steve had arrived and he finished the first rotation with Stan Rogers' The Field behind the plow (sic).

Paul's self-penned song Close the dentist's door (# Paul Welcomme) is the first of two songs performed that are not to be found on YouTube and therefore are not in the linked playlist.

It was quite a surprise that Denny's singing of The Bellringing (* roud 1515) was a new entry into the Dragon database because Colin has certainly sung it before, but so it is. The database only goes back to 2018 and isn't complete even that far.

Helen brought us I'll sail this ship alone (* Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray) from The Beautiful South.

This time round Quentin was presented with words by Paul. He said it wasn't the sort of thing he would usually sing, but he would manage it with help from the assembled masses. With this promise he sang Drunken sailor (roud 322).

From Roger we got a self-penned and autobiographical song called Fifties child (*# Roger Stanleigh).

Helen gave us a another "new" song in Hunter (* Dido Armstrong, Rollo Armstrong).

Quentin again looked to Roger for words and he came up with Raindrops keep fallin' on my head (Burt Bacharach, Hal David). To resolve the discussions that went on on the evening, it was written for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realising that "it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me."

The film is an American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the "Sundance Kid" (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance's lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia to escape the posse.

This was followed by Colin singing another song more loosely connected to a film and where I can clear up some more conversation points. They shoot horses don't they? (Gareth Mortimer) performed by Racing Cars and which got to no. 14 in the UK charts in 1977 was inspired by the 1969 film of the same name, which was in turn based on Horace McCoy's 1935 novel.

The story centres on Robert Syverten (Michael Sarrazin in the film) who is sentenced for murder. The main timeline of the book though involves a dance marathon competition where he partners with Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda in the film). It is Gloria who he is accused of killing.

From the start, Gloria tells Robert that she wishes she were dead, a point she repeats in most of their conversations. Her parents are dead. She ran away to Dallas from a farm in West Texas where her uncle always made passes at her. In Dallas, she tried to commit suicide, then ran away to Hollywood with dreams of being in movies, but is finding only rejection.

In the end Gloria presents Robert with a gun and asks him to kill her, which he does. He remembers when he was young, and his grandfather shot the beloved family horse, which had broken its leg. The police ask Robert why he shot Gloria, and he answers, "Because she asked me to." The policeman persists. Robert answers, "They shoot horses, don't they?"

Helen's final song was Good riddence (time of your life) (* Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day).

The last addition to the database for the evening came from Colin and was The wee cooper o' Fife (* roud 117).

The session was closed by Steve who gave us a good sing-a-long opportunity with Leave her Johnny (roud 354).

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

(Number of people present - 8 of whom 8 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

As hot as...

Photo: Simon Meeds

As expected at the end of another scorching day we were slightly low on numbers at last week's Dragon Folk Club session but we carried on singing. Paul selected from his repertoire songs he hadn't sung recently, Simon appropriately sang mostly songs relating to hot or warm weather, and Denny just sang some excellent songs.

Simon as stand-in MC and first comer started off the session with Three songs to one burden (*), a song written by our old friend Derek Brinkley. Denny followed on with I live not where I love (roud 593) and Paul finished the first rotation with Waking dreams (roud 22620).

Simon's second was The hippopotamus song (Michael Flanders, Donald Swann) where instead of singing a chorus in Russian as Flanders sometimes did, he switched to Latin:

Lutum! lutum! Pulcherrimum  lutum

veni, o veni huc mecum ablutum

sequimini cuncti, laeti coniuncti

et volvamur uncti in luto pulchro.

Looking over Paul's shoulder, Denny managed to follow from the front, singing Sweet thyme (John Conolly, Pete Mundy) in correct expectation of Paul's Wild mountain thyme (roud 541 - Francis McPeake).

When Simon followed that with Brian Bedford's This is the way the world ends Denny asked how she knew the writer's name. Brian Bedford was a member and the main songwriter of Artisan, the harmony group that also included his wife Jacey and Hilary Spencer. Simon thought that Denny may know Brian's song What's the use of wings (*) and so she did, from the singing of Vin Garbutt (his version which he called "Wings"), and so proceeded to sing it. Below the YouTube video of Vin's version I see Jacey Bedford has made this comment:

"We (Artisan) played Trowbridge Folk Festival many years ago, and Vin was on the same bill. We were put up in the same pub and late one night we were sitting in the bar with Vin, sharing songs. We sang What's the Use of Wings - that's its full title - and Vin immediately asked Brian if he could sing it, Brian was delighted, of course. Some years after that Artisan was invited to play the Port Fairy Festival in Australia and on the way we did a stop-over in Hong Kong where we were accommodated by the Hong Kong Folk Club (which was in Doyle's Irish bar in Kowloon - how surreal!). We sang Wings and the whole audience sang it with us... courtesy of Vin taking it there long before we did. Thanks, Vin, you took Brian Bedford's song around the world. Lovely job."

Paul returned us to our old friend Derek Brinkley by singing his song Lament for the fishing (#).

Simon spent some of the evening well off the folk piste, including sharing The bare necessities (Terry Gilkyson).

Denny charmed us with Linden Lea (William Barnes, Ralph Vaughan Williams), which became this week's photo feature thanks to a chance find only yesterday.

Simon took a leaf out of Denny's book by singing a popular song from the early 20th century - 1932 in this case. So he sang The sun has got his hat on (* Noel Gay, Ralph Butler) - and yes, he made a small word replacement from this original version found on YouTube. Ensuing talk of songs evolving to fit changing fashions and mores caused Simon to make his last song of the session Ol' man river (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II). Simon remembers watching a whole television documentary programme about adjustments made to that song over time.

Denny's final song was a good sing-along: Byker Hill (roud 3488) and Paul finished the session appropriately with the Farewell shanty. Having no reference for this other than that it is one sometimes used by our friend Mike Starkey when asked to sing at a funeral, I decided to do some digging. I didn't have far to look because MainlyNorfolk provides a quote from the notes for Brenda Wootton and Robert Bartlett's 1975 album Starry-Gazey Pie:

"Mervyn Vincent from St. Issy and Alan Molyneux from Plymouth are largely responsible for the revival of this lovely West Country shanty. Mervyn found it in an old book on boat-building and it later served as the closing song at Alan’s Breakwater Club in Plymouth."

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

American Independence 2025

Photo: Simon Meeds

At last week's Dragon Folk Session Colin sprang a theme on us quite reasonably, but very last minute. Being 4th July we were invited to find songs with American (or should that be USAnian?) connections. This was done admirably by all. I believe American connections were found for every song sung, but don't look too closely at the playlist because some were very tenuous, maybe even treasonous, connections depending on which country you find yourself in.

There seemed to be something not quite right with the ladies' toilet, so there were occasional excursions made through our room during the evening. Almost without exception they weren't too disruptive, but even as I arrived one lady was sitting with Roger. On a later visit this same person, who Roger later assumed to be his groupie, approached him while he was singing and appeared to caress his head. Roger meanwhile impressively continued his performance without so much as a stutter until she left the room, at which point he could go on no more. He soon carried on from where he had left off.

Colin himself started us off with Yankee Doodle (* roud 4501). There are plenty of stories about the origin and meaning of this song.

The Macaroni wig ("called it macaroni") was an extreme fashion in the 1770s and became slang for being a fop. Dandies were men who placed particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisure hobbies. A self-made dandy was a British middle-class man who impersonated an aristocratic lifestyle. They notably wore silk strip cloth and stuck feathers in their hats. In British conversation, the term "Yankee doodle dandy" implied unsophisticated misappropriation of upper-class fashion, as though simply sticking a feather in one's cap would transform the wearer into a noble.

Roger stayed firmly on the appropriate side of the Atlantic with Banks of the Ohio (roud 157, laws F5).

Paul brought to mind the author of Innocent when you dream (Tom Waits) before Denny gave us Row on (roud 2084), the words of which were found in the 1846 logbook of the Nantucket Whaler, "The Three Brothers". It was a transcription of a poem from GPR James' 1844 "Arabella Stuart: A Romance from English History". It has been said that it was written in part in memory of the crew members of the "Essex", sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, but this is thought to be unlikely. The crew of 20 of the Essex were in rowing boats for 95 days. Eight survived.

Simon completed the first rotation with The night they drove old Dixie down (Robbie Robertson).

Roger introduced a number of new songs to the dragon database, the first being It never rains in Southern California (* Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood).

It's not a serious aim or competition, but we do maintain a record of the number of songs sung at a Dragon Folk Song session. On the face of it at 41 performances, this evening was doing well, but nothing remarkable. However, Roger put the cat among the pigeons by singing and playing two medleys. The first combined four songs and the second included six. This could be said, arguably, to bring the total for the evening to 49. There is however no need to bring out the umpires to make a special decision, because the current record stands at 50.

Roger's first medley incorporated: Blue moon of Kentucky (* Bill Monroe), Today's teardrops (* Gene Pitney, Aaron Schroeder), Oh boy (Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, Norman Petty), and Hello Mary Lou (* Gene Pitney, Cayet Mangiaracina).

On a roll, Roger's second medley combined Folsom prison blues (Johnny Cash), Freight train (Elizabeth Cotten), Last train to San Fernando (* Sylvester DeVere, Randolph Padmore, Mighty Dictator), Worried man blues (roud 4753), Runaway train (roud 9859), and Six-five special (* Don Lang and His Frantic Five).

Colin finished the session with Keep your lamp trimmed and burning (roud 10433).

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

(Number of people present - 5 of whom 5 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Old, new, borrowed and blue

Denny wearing Bonnet and Shawl?
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session saw a very rare appearance from Alison: non-singing but nevertheless welcome. There was no theme and an eclectic bunch of songs was sung.

There will be no official theme again this week, but as usual feel free to bring your own or we can allow something to develop through the evening.

The reason for Alison's presence was Simon's birthday, and the session was started and finished with Happy birthday to you. Of course, this song is problematic for the scribe, because it is probably included in roud 36104, which appears to be a bucket for unloved songs, and it is controversially attributed to Patty and Mildred J. Hill who wrote Good Morning to All.

The session proper started with Colin singing Ben Backstay (roud 21256).

Deny's first song of the evening was Graeme Miles' Drift from the land (*) and Paul's was Generations of change (Matt Armour).

On the face of it Stan gave us a new song: AP Carter's I never will marry (*), but according to the Roud Folk Song Index it is a version of the oft-sung Forsaken mermaid (roud 466, laws K17). I assume there was an interim American version since Carter is well-known for having taken traditional songs and, under instruction from his publishers, making very minor changes before claiming copyright.

Simon completed the first rotation with Jez Lowe's The Bergen.

Colin had us singing along to Sail away ladies (roud 17635). I didn't take enough notes to be sure, but I think it was the Uncle Dave Macon version rather than the hit version from The Vipers Skiffle Group and Lonnie Donegan among others, Don`t You Rock Me Daddy-O (Bill Varley, Wally Whyton). I believe Colin has sung both in the past and I was singing too hard to take note of which it was.

Stan introduced us to another "new" song in Earth Angel (* Curtis Williams, Jesse Belvin, Gaynel Hodge), from the singing of The Penguins. I knew I recognised the song. It could well be because I used to be, and still am to some extent, a fan of 50s and early 60s music, but could it also be because it was used in Back to the Future - here.

Stan was full of new songs for the database, giving us My buddy (* Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn), first recorded in 1922 by Henry Burr and later by Mario Lanza among many others, and then Eileen (Sylvia Fine, Max Liebman). Fine, who was Danny Kaye's wife, is credited with the lyrics. It has been collected in Ireland and England and is listed as roud 23884, but it seems it may have been original to Fine since the collection dates all post-date Bing Crosby's recording of 1950.

Simon finished off the evening in traditional Dragon club style with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford), that is before the aforementioned post cantatum reprise of Happy birthday to you.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 5 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

In the Summertime

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session got off to a simple start with Colin singing to himself for the first few songs, but he was soon joined by Steve who had been held up in traffic. The lack of people wasn't unexpected and we should be back to normal this Friday. Do come and join us from 8:15pm in the barn (just past the toilets) at The Bridge Inn, Shortwood, Bristol (UK), BS16 9NG.

For those who are interested, the new mega-batch of club beer mats have arrived and should be available on Friday for use or for marketing purposes.

This dragon wasn't present at the session, so please forgive any minor inaccuracies.

Colin started off with four straight songs before Steve arrived:

• Deportee - plane crash at Los Gatos (roud 26302 - Woody Guthrie)
• History lesson (Leon Rosselson)
• Here comes the sun (* George Harrison)
• I'll follow the sun (* John Lennon, Paul McCartney)

Although there was no official theme for the evening you may detect something of summer developing.

My guess is that Colin sang Summer in the city (* John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, Steve Boone) to allow Steve time to settle down, but I may be wrong, which would throw the rest of the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below out of line slightly. Let's not worry about that too much.

Steve's first song of the evening was Streets of London (Ralph McTell).

Two further songs from the evening, both sung by Colin, which require a mention are Ageing old hippie (#) by our old friend Richard Gillion which doesn't appear on YouTube, and Come to the fair (* roud V21367 - Easthope Martin) which is new to the Dragon database.

The final rotation, in one or other order as explained above, involved Colin singing Cracklin' Rosie (Neil Diamond) and Steve singing Ranter's wharf (John Conolly).

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Mixing it up

Friday's Dragon Folk Club session was rather enjoyable. Denny and Paul brought along their friend Helen. As I warned last week, this will be an abbreviated blog report with no YouTube playlist, written quickly before this dragon disappears in a puff of smoke for a few days.

As far as I am aware there will be no official theme next week (20th June), but we will be short of a few regular bodies, so I would be grateful if you can make an extra effort to turn up and help Colin to sing up a storm.

Back to the recent session, the ladies' toilet was out of action so we had an intermittent stream of them through our room, but all were quiet and respectful to the singing that was going on and caused no trouble at all.

Paul kicked off proceedings with Tom Lehrer's The Irish Ballad, to be followed by Denny with Samuel Laycock's A tribute to the drowned. The latter was about a disaster at sea where 27 volunteer lifeboatmen from St Annes and Southport died on 9 and 10 December 1886 while attempting to rescue the crew of the German barque Mexico, which ran aground in a gale on the Main Bank off Southport, Lancashire, while en route from Liverpool to Guayaquil in Ecuador.

Helen had only prepared one song to sing, but it was a good joiner-inner, being Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair) (* Tom Gilbert, Sandi Thom). While this was her only solo performance of the evening, Helen proved a strong support with her chorus singing. She promised to return with more songs another time. We can't wait!

Colin's first song of the evening was The old A1 (* Pete McGregor). Stan followed that with Plaisir d'amour (* Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian).

Simon completed the first rotation with The Lambton worm (roud 2337 - Clarence M. Leumane).

Keeping it very brief, here are the remaining songs new to the Dragon database:

• Colin - Rainbow warrior (* Patricia Middleton, Douglas Dinn)
• Stan - That silver-haired Daddy of mine (* Gene Autry, Jimmy Long)
• Colin - Condoleezza's Cowboys (* Pete McGregor)
• Stan - The end of the world (* Arthur Kent, Sylvia Dee)
• Stan - I will always love you (* Dolly Parton)

Denny finished the evening with Pleasant and delightful (roud 660, laws O30).

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Vistors welcome

Bob Watson who died on 31st May

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session saw us able to welcome two new first time visitors: Richard and Anne are from the Stroud area and they brought some excellent songs, singing and playing to our evening as well as their two very well behaved canine companions. We hope they return soon. We really have had some great visitors recently and long may it continue. Perhaps some of them will even become regular?

This Friday there will be no official theme once again though you are welcome to bring your own or make one up as you go along. A bit of an early warning - next week's report is likely to be brief, probably without a YouTube playlist. Normal service should be resumed the following week.

Back to last week's session, Colin, MC as usual, opened the account in memory of the recently deceased Bob Watson by singing Bob's Shantyman.

Richard and Anne opened their Dragon account with No telling (* Linda Thompson) and Harvest moon (* Neil Young).

Bob's first song was So much trouble (* Brownie McGhee) and Sue's was Beyond the sea (Charles Trenet, Albert Lasry, Jack Lawrence). The latter being an English language version of Charles Ternet's La Mer.

Simon marked the 81st anniversary of the Normandy landings and completed the first rotation with D-Day Dodgers (Lance-Sergeant Harry Pynn).

In the second rotation Anne sang Cold Missouri Waters (* James Keelaghan) and Richard gave us his own version (*# Richard Cox) of Carrickfergus (roud 17556). The popular version of the song is attributed to Dominic Behan who said he learned the third verse from Peter O'Toole. Richard's version tells of a man who would like to go abroad for his holiday, but his wife wants to stay in Ireland.

Colin debuted a song which he heard from the singing of friend of the club, Terry Cock, that being What happened to the ponies (Jim Moreland). This is the first time I've been able to find a recording of the song to add to the playlist linked from "a selection" below.

Continuing the tradition of mentioning all songs from newcomers to the club, Anne and Richard sang Stan Rogers' Lock-keeper, and Richard went solo on his own version (*# Richard Cox) of Spencer the Rover (roud 1115) in which Spencer is dissatisfied with the service being provided by the council in Stroud. He tries moving to Wales, but finally returns.

On the next rotation Richard and Anne gave us Graham Nash's Wasted on the way (*), and Richard sang The man who wrote the songs (*) which was written by our very own Derek Brinkley who had paid us a long awaited visit only the week before.

Returning to singing solo, Anne performed In search of angels (* Calum McDonald, Rory McDonald) from the band Runrig, of who she was clearly a fan having attended their last gig in Stirling in 2018.

Richard's last song of the evening was Chris Smither's Origin of species (*).

Sue sang her own song, Recycled teenager (#) and Bob evoked Lynyrd Skynyrd's version of J J Cale's Call me the breeze (*).

Simon finished the session off with Stan Rogers' Northwest passage.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not to be found in the playlist linked from "a selection" are marked with a hash (#).

A welcome return

Redcliffe Wharf, Bristol (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last Friday's Dragon Folk Club session was special to those of us who have been around for a while. Not only did we have a highly respectable head count, being joined by regular irregulars Roger, Stuart and Steve, but were able to welcome back to the fold the long absent Derek and Maggie, complete with new canine companion Bertie.

Like last week's, this week's session will be without a theme so as usual anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Despite having memory issues and having not sung in public for three and a half years, Derek made a valiant attempt with four songs from his formerly vast repertoire. Both Derek and Maggie joined in with numerous choruses in fine voice and we hope to see them again soon.

Colin started us off with Last night I had the strangest dream (Ed McCurdy) and Roger followed him with This land is your land (Woody Guthrie).

Stuart had expected to be accompanied by Carrie, so when she turned out to be unavailable he had to quickly rework his set-list. His first was Bert Jansch's Soho (*).

Simon opened his account with Bonny ship the Diamond (roud 2172).

Paul sang Song for Ireland (Phil Colclough, June Colclough) and Denny stayed in the Irish Sea with The Ellan Vannin tragedy (Hughie Jones).

Derek offered us the first song he had sung at the beginning of his singing career, suggesting that this evening was the end of it (we hope not). The song was Roger Watson's Invalid miner (#).

Steve closed the first rotation with The rare ould times (Pete St John).

In the second rotation Stuart gave us a song new to the Dragon database which I believe was How long, how long blues (* Leroy Carr).

Derek's second song was one I think he calls The lobster (roud 149) though I wouldn't be surprised if he collected it from Cyril Barber who apparently called it Jimmy Johnson. His next song was Mary went to a tea party (# roud 24991) which he collected from Bertha Brown.

Colin sang Robb Johnson's More than enough (*).

The last "new" song of the evening came from Stuart and was Roger McGuinn's version of the traditional He was a friend of mine (*) which deals with the subject of John F Kennedy's assassination. Stuart's final performance was a repertoire first with Lady Franklin's lament (roud 487, laws K09).

Derek's final song was Jack Hall (roud 369, laws L5) and the final song of the evening, coming from Steve, was Leave her Johnny (roud 354).

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

(Number of people present - 9 of whom 8 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not to be found in the playlist linked from "a selection" are marked with a hash (#).

Sea and land

Dungeness (Photo: Simon Meeds)

It was another great session at the Dragon Folk Club last week. Rob made one of his occasional appearances to give us some great unaccompanied singing and we enjoyed a first visit from Mark who provided more unaccompanied singing as well as the unusual but enjoyable experience of solo five string bass guitar.

There will be no set theme again this week though that doesn't preclude people arriving with their own or something developing over the course of the evening. Remember that even when we set a theme it is always just for fun and very much optional.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with Steve Knightley's Cousin Jack. Rob followed on with a different version of Geordie (* roud 90), which I have found in the singing of June Tabor.

Simon sang The Handweaver and the factory maid (roud 17771) and Mark's first contribution was Cyril Tawney's Grey funnel line.

Denny sang another song which I found in June Tabor's repertoire: Lisbon (roud 551, laws N8) and Paul finished the first rotation with The ship in distress (roud 807).

As usual I will mention all of newcomer Mark's songs together with anything else that needs highlighting.

Mark announced his second song as O my love's gone, which is a version of The forsaken mermaid (roud 466, laws K17).

Colin's version of The soldier and the sailor (roud 350) included versions with relatively modern verses including one about a "radiation-proof room".

Rob sang two songs written by his late friend Adey Shaw. The first was Monkey in the hold (*). The other one, about Adey's cat called Bosun, which was killed by a dog is simply To Bosun (*#).

Mark sang two of his own songs: Back and forth (*# Mark Gunner) and When it ends (* Mark Gunner). His last two songs of the evening were The crafty ploughboy (* roud 2637, laws L1) and Stan Rogers' Mary Ellen Carter.

Denny closed the evening with Dave Dodds' I can hew boys.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not to be found in the playlist linked from "a selection" are marked with a hash (#).