England's out but we're still singing

Kate Rusby

Thank fully all facilities at the pub were restored this week so there was nothing to disrupt an entertaining evening of singing and playing.

Mike started off the evening with a "calling on shanty", used when recruiting for a ship to show that the shanty man on board was good enough. It was said that a good shanty man is worth ten men on the rope, since his singing made it easy to keep time, thus making the job easier. The song was poor Tommy's gone, grey goose is dead. I haven't been able to trace it but it seems to me to have elements at least of Tom's gone to Hilo, Go tell Aunt Rhodie and D'ye ken John Peel. Neither Mike nor Maggie seemed to think that its mournful tone would be very good for getting new recruits to come on board - surely something more rousing would be better.