Harvest 2025

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was themed for harvest and we did pretty well with lots of more or less on topic songs.

Remember that our themes are always optional, so while following the theme is encouraged, don't worry if you can't at all or if you can't keep it up all evening. As usual, any type of performance is welcome as long as you keep it acoustic.

We are heading into one of our theme-laden seasons, so here are some dates for your diary:

• 31 October - Halloween (traditions, ghosts, witches, horror...)
• 7 November - Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes, bonfires, fireworks...)
• 14 November - Remembrance (Remembrance, war, anti-war...)

With only very rare exceptions, with or without a theme, we are to be found every Friday night from 8:15pm in the barn (just past the toilets) at The Bridge Inn, Bridge Road, Shortwood, Bristol (UK), BS16 9NG. See you there!

And so to last week's session: Colin, MC as usual, started the ball rolling with Out in the green fields (roud 2670).

Helen followed with a version of the Skye boat song (roud 3772). Apparently Robert Louis Stevenson rewrote the song in 1885. He judged the lyrics to be "unworthy", so made a new set of verses "more in harmony with the plaintive tune". The version Helen sang (*) was based on this version, adapted by Bear McCreary for the TV series Outlander.

Denny gave us the first of the evening's three versions of John Barleycorn: Hey John Barleycorn (roud 2141).

Paul introduced us to Shiny-o (*). According to Stan Hugill, "this halyard song was saved from oblivion thanks to the daughter of a certain Professor Hatfield who took town several rare shanties her father heard being sung by a black crew in 1886 aboard the 548 ton, three-masted barque Ahkera on an eighty-four day passage from Pensacola to Nice. He collected nine work songs, the rarest being Way down below (roud 11870), Nancy Rhee and the one we have here.

Excuse me here a quick aside. Until I was researching the previous section I don't think I'd ever seen a shanty being used for it's original purpose, whether that's capstan, windlass, or whatever. That is until I saw this video of Hulton Clint singing Across the western ocean "at the windlass". It makes the point often stressed by our shanty-singing friend Mike Starkey that people often sing shanties too fast.

Roger's first song of the evening was Adge Cutler's Twice daily.

Simon finished the first rotation with John Barleycorn (roud 164) to the tune Wir Pflügen (Johann Abraham Peter Schulz).

Helen's second song, Forever Autumn (music by Jeff Wayne, lyrics by Gary Osborne and Paul Vigrass), was already in the Dragon database, but it deserves a bit of an explanation for it's unusual history. Most people know the version sing by Justin Hayward for Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds, but it was previously recorded by Vigrass and Osborne. That however is not the start of the story, because the tune was written by Jeff Wayne for a Lego commercial in 1969, and here it is.

Roger sang Keep right on to the end of the road (*), written by Harry Lauder in 1924. Lauder wrote the song in honour of his son, Captain John Currie Lauder, killed in the First World War, and it was originally published under the name "The End Of The Road".

Helen was surprised that none of us knew The shelter of your eyes (*), written by Don Williams, which was his first single, released in 1972. It's good to introduce us to things we haven't heard before or don't remember.

It was also Helen who sang I'll never find another you (*), written by Tom Springfield and recorded by The Seekers.

Roger sang his own Ukrainian lament (# Roger Stanleigh).

Crows in the Garden (* roud 4505) was Colin's penultimate offering of the evening for it was he who rounded off the session with Take a whiff on me (roud 10062), which of course isn't as innocent as he claimed. Here's the earliest known recording from 1930.

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 (#).

Harvest 2024

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week at the Dragon Folk Club our Harvest themed session bore fruit. We started off strongly with the theme with plenty of bucolic ballads and songs, migrating to songs of the harvest of the sea, and from there to poaching and eventually to the harvest of mineral deposits. You know how it goes.

Colin sowed the seed with John Barleycorn (roud 164) to the tune Wir Pflügen (We plough the fields and scatter). Denny followed him in the same furrow with Hey John Barleycorn (roud 2141) and Simon, not one to go against the grain, sang Windmills (Alan Bell). You'll be pleased to know I can't keep this up beyond the first (crop) rotation.

It wasn't the first time Colin had sung Linstead Market (roud 16397), but it's worth a mention as something a bit different, being in the mento style.

Both songs from the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not included in the playlist linked from "a selection" below, were sung by Colin and from the pen of Chris Sugden: All things dark and dangerous, and The stick of rhubarb.

At risk of monopoly, Colin sang both songs of the evening not previously recorded in the Dragon database, though quite possibly previously sung at the club: Our Sarah (roud 16652) and The harvest supper song (roud 1379) - the linked recording of Sheepshearing sung by The Watersons is the same song though the words may not be identical.

Possibly the first to break from country pursuits and head for the fishing grounds was Denny with John Conolly's Fiddlers Green. Hot on her heels was Simon with Candlelight fisherman (roud 1852).

Colin threw in a curve ball with Forever Autumn (Jeff Wayne, Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass). Too late for the playlist, but I have now found the original Osborne and Vigrass recording of Forever Autumn from their 1972 album Queues. Actually, the real original was Jeff Wayne's jingle for a Lego advert before the words were added by Osborne and Vigrass.

Simon was the champion of poaching with The Lincolnshire poacher (roud 299) and Geordie (roud 90, child 209). Denny's Cadgwith anthem (roud 3314) may also just qualify.

Colin's tenuous link at this stage was Goin' Home (William Arms Fisher) set to that part of Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony later used to advertise bread in Hovis commercials.

Denny was first to take us harvesting the black stuff with I can hew boys (Dave Dodds), but Simon soon followed her down the mine winging Dark as a dungeon (Merle Travis).

It fell to Simon to bring in the sheaves with 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)

Harvest 2022

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session had our annual Harvest theme. The theme is no longer compulsory as it once was and wasn't this year accompanied by a feast and a vegetable auction, but harvest and autumn songs were in evidence from at least two of our singers.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with All of a row (roud 1474). Geoff declared himself off-topic and sang Keith's hit song, 98.6 (George Fischoff, Tony Powers). Simon followed that with Alan Bell's Windmills.

We had at least three songs from the singing of The Yetties: Colin sang Dorset is Beautiful (Bob Gale) and All the good things (Bonny Sartin), and Simon sang Buttercup Joe (roud 1635).

Simon pointed out that the closest Geoff came to a harvest song may have been Golden Brown (Hugh Cornwell, Jean-Jacques Burnel, Dave Greenfield, Jet Black), which is about heroin (not cocaine as suggested on the night).

By that time Simon himself had moved temporarily into the "harvest of the sea" with The Candlelight fisherman (roud 1852) and The Bergen (Jez Lowe).

Colin sang two versions of John Barleycorn: Steeleye Span's version of (roud 164) and later roud 2141.

It seemed that Simon had peaked too early, singing his usual finishing-off song When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford), but he kept one in the bag for the end of the evening: Wild mountain thyme (Francis McPeake - roud 541).

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

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

Harvest 2018

(Photo: Herry Lawford)

It was a disappointment that we could only muster six people for our annual charity Harvest session; six is enough to make a lively musical evening but not to make a fortune in money raised for the BBC Radio Bristol Alive Appeal. It was however to good to see a brace of Terries (C and H).

MC Colin sang the first song, All Of A Row (Roud 1474). Derek asked whether this was in fact the Suffolk Harvest Home but it seems not, because that is apparently a version of Roud 310 ("Here's a health unto our master... drink, boys, drink").

Harvest 2016

(Photo by Joinash)

Last week's Harvest session was a little disappointing, not just because we had a respectable rather than great turn-out but also because we were usurped from our usual bar by a private party on what was supposed to be a special night for us. We can't blame the pub for booking the bar out to an event that brings in more money than our folk club but it would be nice to have some advance warning which I don't believe we had on this occasion.

We ended up in the main bar, which was OK but the ambient noise level, not to mention the TV showing sport isn't really conducive to what we are trying to do. Don't worry, it's not always like that and I'm sure it will be fine this Friday.

It was great to see that people had brought along a fine array of produce both for the half-time buffet and the raffle.