Christmas 2025

Weihnachtspyramide, Bristol Christmas Market 2025
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Well, we finally made it last week to the Dragon Folk Club Christmas themed session, and what a session it was. There were ten singers including two first time visitors: father and daughter, Ray and Sally. We welcome them to the Dragon's lair and hope they return soon and often.

Whether you've visited us before, been a previous regular, or haven't even heard of us until today, you are very welcome to come along any Friday we meet; this Friday, 26th December, is one of those rare occasions when the Dragon is having a rest, but we'll be back on 2nd January with an optional theme around New Year, Twelfth Night, Epiphany, and anything else appropriate that you can think of.

Back to last week, everyone contributed Christmas songs (and one monologue), starting with Denny and the Boney M. version of Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord (Jester Hairston, Frank Farian, Fred Jay, Hela Lorin) - the main song of this medley was repeated later by Sue as Mary's boy child (Jester Hairson). This is a sort of theme since Our second performance of the evening came from Paul with the Sans day carol (roud 514) and it was Paul himself who later returned to roud 514 in the form of The holly and the ivy.

Colin gave us The boar's head carol (roud 22229) on a plate (Caput apri defero ('the boar's head I bear') Reddens laudes Domino ('rendering praises to the Lord')) and Simon immediately continued the Latin strand with Gaudete, from Piæ Cantiones (Finland, 1582).

Stuart and Carrie sang two songs with their roots in Yorkshire: Sweet chiming bells (roud 936 - Nahum Tate) a version of While shepherds watched from the Sheffield carols tradition; and Kate Rusby's Home.

Ray's debut song at the Dragon was O holy night (* roud 25609 - Placide Cappeau, translated by John Sullivan Dwight). Sally kept a low profile at this stage: happy to watch and listen.

Bob temporarily cast away his signature (self-styled) miserable blues for some rock'n'roll with Chuck Berry's Run Rudolph run (* Chuck Berry Music, Johnny Marks, Marvin Brodie).

The songs new to the Dragon database were coming thick and fast as Sue gave us When a child is born (* Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay). And so was ended the first rotation.

As usual I will list the songs sung by newcomers, in this case Ray and Sally:

• Ray - A spaceman came travelling (Christopher Davison (Chris de Burgh))
• Ray - White Christmas (Irving Berlin)
• Ray and Sally - Silent Night (Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr, John Freeman Young)
• Ray and Sally - Winter wonderland (Felix Bernard, Richard Bernhard Smith)

Songs not already mentioned that were new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily never before sung at the club were:

• Carrie - Ring out, solstice bells (* Ian Anderson) - the second of two songs from the repertoire of Jethro Tull sung on the day the band's original guitarist, Mick Abrahams, died. The other came from Bob and was So much trouble (Brownie McGhee).
• Paul - Gods rest ye merry pagan folk (*)
• Carrie - The wren (* roud 32955)
• Sue - Santa Claus is comin' to town (* J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) was our last song of the evening.

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

(Number of people present - 10 of whom 10 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 (#).

Deep breath

Ashton Court, December 2010 (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Yes, it wasn't quite Christmas at last Friday's Dragon Folk Club session, in fact there wasn't an official theme, but that didn't stop people singing Christmas songs, Heather because she won't be with us this week, and Denny because she felt like joining Heather. Even Paul got in on the act at least once.

This Friday (19th December) will be our Christmas themed session although our themes are of course always optional. The following week (26th) we will have a break and then we'll be back for our New Year session on 2nd January. Various appropriate themes and sub-themes come to mind, but I'll leave that to your imagination for the moment.

Back to last week, in Colin's absence Simon was MC and he kicked us off with Tom Paine's bones (Graham Moore).

Heather took up her Christmas theme with Cliff Richard's 1988 festive hit Mistletoe and wine (* Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart, Keith Strachan).

Denny started her contribution with When yellow's on the broom, written by the recently deceased Adam McNaughton, and Paul finished off the first rotation with Tending the sheep (*). This last song was probably written by Ruth Tongue.

Although Tongue's songs were presented as having been collected from various (pseudonymous) singers in Somerset in the early part of the 20th century (in this case ‘Old Shepherd’ from The Blackdown Hills), most have never been found anywhere else, and evidence suggests that many of them were written by the same person, quite possibly by Miss Tongue herself, though it is impossible to be sure.

Only two songs sung during the evening was not found on YouTube and therefore not in the playlist linked from "a selection" below:

• Denny - A tribute to the drowned (Samuel Laycock)
• Paul - Tracks in the snow (Steve Thomason)

Due to Heather's self-set Christmas theme, there were a few more songs (and a poem) new to the Dragon database:

• Heather - The Christmas truce (* Carol Ann Duffy)
• Heather - Little donkey (* Eric Boswell)
• Heather - Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! (* Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn)
• Heather - Rockin' around the Christmas tree (* Johnny Marks)

Simon left us with a good sing and something to warm us up ready for the Christmas session proper next week: When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

(Number of people present - 5 of whom 4 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 (#).

Heading into winter with a smile

Brandon Hill, Bristol (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session had no theme, but several emerged. Simon tried to keep us smiling through the foul weather to come, while others reflected the season to some degree. We heard some new songs, some old songs, some borrowed songs, but in the absence of our friend Bob, not so many blue songs.

This Friday's session (12th December) will also have no official theme, but we have already had three or more Christmas songs as well as others pointing towards the season, so if your mind drifts that way we're not going to stop you. 19th December will be our official Christmas themed evening, and then we will have a break on 26th ready to hit the ground running for the New Year on 2nd January.

Colin, back in the MC's seat this week, started us off with The maid of Amsterdam (roud 649). Denny sag her new favourite November drinking song (Bryan Hawes, Martin Graebe), but in an attempt to keep it going changed it to the December drinking song.

Helen took us off to a Christmas scene with Winter wonderland (* Felix Bernard, Richard Bernhard Smith), and Paul followed Denny's theme of varied persons out drinking with Jones's ale (roud 139).

Simon completed the first rotation with a humorous take on winter: Down our street (roud 32257).

Colin's second song came from the pen of Gilbert O'Sullivan. It surprised everyone how early in his career he had written Nothing Rymed (*), but in fact it was even earlier than we believed at that time. It was released in 1970! I am however quite pleased that my guess was correct that he released Clair in 1972.

Helen introduced us to the singing and songwriting of TikTok sensation Rose Betts by giving us Irish eyes (*). In fact all the evening's remaining songs new for the Dragon Database came from Helen: Solstice Evergreen (* Adrienne Piggott)  from the Australian pagan folk rock band, Spiral Dance, and a surprisingly landward song, There are no lights on our Christmas tree (*), from the pen of Cyril Tawney.

The only song of the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not in the playlist linked from "a selection" below was perhaps unsurprisingly, Colin's The war junk Tennessee (# Willis - A quarter-gunner on the USS Tennessee and nephew of Nathaniel Parker Willis).

Paul finished the session with Bold Riley (roud 18160).

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 (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

St Andrew's Day 2025

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Our faithful MC Colin was otherwise engaged during last week's Dragon Folk Club session so Simon took up the pen, ledger and metaphorical gavel. Theme accuracy was not 100% given that Paul and Denny, who had been absent the previous week, both started by harking back to Remembrance before honouring Denny's native county on Lancashire Day and eventually joining us in Scotland. Roger on the other hand took the opportunity that our themes are always optional and sang a wide variety of styles, but of course since St Andrew is the patron saint among other things of singers, nothing was truly off-topic this time anyway.

Roger had been first to arrive at The Bridge so he was called upon to start the evening, which he did with Proud Mary (* John Fogerty).

Simon was first to take us to Scotland with Dougie MacLean's Caledonia.

As already mentioned, Paul and Denny started off in a remembrance theme with Poor murdered men (*# Jon Heslop) and A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (Eric Maschwitz, Manning Sherwin) respectively. The latter was Denny's late father's favourite song and was sung at his 90th birthday party by her late sister-in-law. Denny's singing of the song also marked both of their birthdays.

And so we came to the end of the first rotation.

Having already mentioned two above, there were a further two songs new to the Dragon database this time, both sung by Denny. The first was November drinking song (* Bryan Hawes, Martin Graebe). The second gave me a little more of a problem. The only trace I could find of Drink to the Laddies (* Sue West) on YouTube (and therefore the version I included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below) was this slightly raucous and badly recorded "Drink to the lassies". But we don't give up so easily here, and a more respectable version, sung by Dutch shanty choir De Kaapstander, was found here in the middle of a longer video.

LATE ENTRY: Another version of Drink to the laddies has been found.

It also fell to Denny to round off the session with a Scottish version of Rolling home (roud 4766).

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

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 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 (#).