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)

Ray remembered

Last week's session mustered only two singers, but they each sang thirteen songs, which isn't bad going. Twenty three of them are represented in the playlist linked below.

Colin started the evening by singing Granny's old armchair (roud 1195) which he said he knew from the singing of our late friend Ray Croll and nowhere else. It turns out that it was written around John Read 1879 by John Read and was popular in the music halls. It returned to fame in the folk revival of the 1960s having been being kept alive among others by traditional singers Fred Jordan and Walter Pardon.

Simon had been listening to Radio 4. One programme was about people who have been influenced by the singing of Kate Bush, one of which was Bristol singer Katy J Pearson. Although her styl;e may resemble Bush, Simon thought Pearson's voice was more like that of Nanci Griffith. Another programme was Last Word which featured an obituary of Loretta Lynn. Simon brought these two (and indeed listening to the radio albeit talk rather than music) together by singing Griffith's song Listen to the radio.

Colin continued by consciously and unconsciously singing songs from the repertoire of Ray Roll and his wife Vee. I won't catch them all, but the next, from Vee, was Get a little table (Harry Linn, William Sim - 1882). Another from Ray's singing was Girl from the hiring fair (Ralph McTell).

Colin sang Come by the hills (W Gordon Smith) which we thought may have been one in Ray's repertoire, but we weren't sure.

Simon had been notable in not singing any Ray Croll songs. He often sings Rudyard Kipling's The smuggler's song, but wasn't prepared. When asked to close the session it was only after deciding which song to sing that he realised it was in fact from Ray's repertoire: Wee dark engine room (Harry Robertson).

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

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

Tea for two

Fisher lasses, Pittenweem, Scotland

Last Friday's session saw Colin and Simon have a good chat before alternating songs. There must have been something wrong with the evening because not only were we down to a pair but there was hardly anyone in the rest of the pub and it closed early at 10pm because we were the only customers left. In fact I believe there were only four others at 9pm. So whatever was the mystery problem we will forgive you for not being there as long as you turn up this week from 8:15pm on Friday.

The parish notices were that we will have two weeks break over Christmas since Fridays fall on significant dates this year. We will not be meeting on 24 December nor on 31 December, so 17 December will be our last session of 2021 and 7 January will be the first of 2022.

While Colin was MC he ceded his customary opening spot to Simon who sang Tracy Chapman's Behind the wall. Maybe it has some relevance to the Arthur Labinjo-Hughes case, though perhaps Suzanne Vega's Luka would have been more appropriate.

Colin said he would continue his partial Scottish theme of the week before, taking as his first song Come by the hills (W Gordon Smith).

I won't go through all of the songs we sang; you can hear them all in one form or another at the "a selection" link below, but maybe I will mention one or two.

Colin challenged me to find a recording of The Pittenweem fisher-wives song (roud 13136). Well, it took a bit of digging and I won't claim 100% success. California State University, Fresno gives us some hints, including that it is related to We'll Go To Sea No More [no not Go to sea no more (roud 644, laws D7)], but a song which appeared in a book The odd volume (page 267), by the Misses Corbett. Mudcat Café tells us that Grace Corbett (c. 1765-1843), when eleven years old, composed the melody to a new version of "The Siller Crown" and along with her sister produced several works of fiction, tales, legends, etc.

The Corbett song has very similar verses to Colin's, but a different chorus. Anyway, this is the only version of We'll go to sea no more that I can find on YouTube - not very traditional I'm afraid. If you want to track down a version of the Pittenweem fisher-wives song, then you probably need to track down a copy of the album The Sailor's Day by Mainbrace (Minstrel Records - JD-217).

Colin closed the evening with Dougie McLean's Caledonia.

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

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

Burns' Night 2017

reconstructed head of Burns

Finally a respectable quorum for this year's Burns' Night session. That is it was our Burns and Scotland themed session which took place two days after Burns' Night. In fact the attendance was so numerous that it even deserved three raffle prizes!

As always at The Dragon Folk Club, the theme was optional, so there was plenty of variety. Colin was MC and he started off proceedings with a comic offering from Captain Beaky: The Haggis Season (Jeremy Lloyd, Jim Parker).

I won't get into the debate about which songs and poems Robert Burns wrote, which he collected and which he stole, so please read anything in this blog post which claims to be by Burns as being any one of those options.

Roger recited The Banks O' Doon (Roud 13889 - Robert Burns) as a poem and Chris gave us the Eriskay Love Lilt (I grew up to that version by Judith Durham).

Maggie's retirement bash

Maggie S

Maggie S arrived to last week's session, mince pies in hand, almost convinced that it was our Christmas session but in fact it was a party to honour her contributions to the club over the last 30 or so years that she has been first its treasurer and then the overall organiser. A very good crowd turned out to mark the occasion. In practice Colin took over a few weeks ago but there's no problem with an excuse for a party.

With so many friends old and new appearing throughout the first half it seemed we'd never start on a second round, so rather than miss anyone out, I will try to list all of the songs sung on this occasion - though I will struggle with a couple of them.

Simon had arrived indecently early to help with the set-up, not that there was much to do, so Colin asked him to start off proceedings.

Wherefore art thou Maggie?

With Maggie and Mike watching Shakespeare instead of taking charge at The Bridge, Richard took Mike's place for the evening, helped by Lesley on raffle tickets.

Simon arrived at the same time as Colin, and any impression that he may have tried to run him over was definitely unintentional (and didn't really happen at all). An apparently friendly chap standing at the door of the pub suggested that Colin had been less than willing to exchange pleasantries; maybe it was his recent brush with death?