St Andrew's Day 2024 (with added Lancashire)

The Lancashire Fusilier pulling
The Jacobite (Hogwarts Express)
over the Glenfinnan Viaduct
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was officially themed for St Andrew's Day. Saint Andrew is patron saint of Scotland among many other things. However Denny asked us also to consider that it was the week of Lancashire Day, her native county, and therefore that was a secondary theme.

Before getting down to business, it's worth pointing out that this week's Dragon session (6th December) will be themeless before we make the big move to Christmas on 13th, and have a premature Christmas leftovers (turkey curry, etc.) session on 20th. 27th December will be a very rare Friday of rest for the Dragon before we come back with a bang for New Year and a slightly early Twelfth Night on 3rd January. It's important to note that our themes are always optional and therefore anything goes at the Dragon as long as it's acoustic.

Back to last Friday, we had a variety of approaches. Colin and Paul stuck with Scotland, while Denny concentrated on Lancashire and Simon alternated between the two. Remember that Lancashire was considered to be the traditional county which includes places no longer in it such as Liverpool, Manchester and Salford.

Colin, MC as usual, started off with Dougie MacLean's Ready for the storm. Simon started off with a song which he obtained from a Scottish source (Scotch Measure, Jim and Sylvia Barnes), but which he has hear attributed not only to Scotland, but also to Ireland and even to Lancashire! The song is The handweaver and the factory maid (roud 17771).

Paul remained firmly north of the border with A Scottish soldier (Andy Stewart) and Denny comlpeted the first rotation in Lancashire with a monologue: The lion and Albert (Marriott Edgar). Edgar was in fact born in Scotland, but his father and two aunts were born in Lancashire, so this actually hits both themes.

At this stage I'll say that unusually there were no additions to the Dragon database this week, and there was only one song not to be found on YouTube, and therefore not in the playlist linked from "a selection" below. That lone song is The pickled herring man (Cathy Wallis).

I could end this report there and fast forward to the last song of the evening, which indeed came slightly earlier than usual when the pub closed prematurely. Presumably the closure was due to lack of customers, and we might have predicted it would be so since all of us managed to park on the pub forecourt when we arrived: a very uncommon occurrence.

Nevertheless, let's have a look first at a handful of our other notable performances of the evening - not that all are not notable.

Paul referred to his apparently fictional collection of Judith Durham records before singing The Eriskay Love Lilt. [Ed: I have some albeit from my father's collection, but I definitely grew up with The Seekers on the record player]

Denny revisited to the plight of a small boy in Blackpool with Albert's return (Marriott Edgar).

In The Hielan' man perhaps Colin selected one of the rarer songs of the evening, and one with its own challenges to the researcher being from the pen of Scotsman Matt McGinn, not to be confused with the Irish Matt McGinn or the American Matt McGinn, or indeed the English Matt McGinn.

Simon warned before singing Mike Harding's Small high window (a Lancashire contribution) that he might end up drifting into too higher key. In the end he admitted that the actual problem was more one of over-compensation and signing in his boots.

After a request from the pub staff to finish quickly there was a hasty last round which finished with Denny singing Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie).

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

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

All bets off for one week

(AI image from Stable Diffusion)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was a bit in between - in between themes in this season of themes. Its predecessor was Remembrance and this Friday it will be St Andrew's Day. More of that in a moment. Without a theme it gave people absolute freedom. Simon had quite a few war-themed songs left over from Remembrance while Colin thought he would lift the previous week's mainly sombre mood with some more cheerful ditties. Paul and Denny brought us a variety of seasonal, unseasonable and sing-along offerings.

So, to this Friday's theme (29th November). St Andrew, whose saint's day is on 30th November, is of course best known as the patron saint of Scotland, so anything Scottish or about Scotland will do. Also bear in mind Andrews other patronages include: Barbados, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Amalfi, Manila and Prussia; fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, and farm workers.

If that doesn't give you scope enough, on Denny's request there will be a secondary theme of Lancashire Day (27th November). Remember that the county of Lancashire traditionally includes Manchester, Salford and Liverpool, none of which are in the current county, but all are fair game for the session.

Then, of course, our themes are always optional, so anything goes as long as it's acoustic, though with all that themery to go on we can probably find a tenuous connection for almost any song.

Back to last week, Colin, MC as usual, started us off with The Seven Wonders (*), credited as Welsh traditional, arranged by Maddy Prior and June Tabor who acquired it from Mick Tems of Pontardawe. Tems wrote on mudcat.org:

"The Seven Wonders is a 19th century translation of the song Y Saith Rhyfeddod, which comes from the Bala region of North Wales, collected by the Welsh Folk Song Society early in the 20th century. It falls into the same class of song as Martin Said To His Man and The Derby Ram... wild boasts, impossible achievements etc.

"I heard it sung as The Seven Wonders by an old farmer at the Gwyn Arms in Glyntawe, at the upper end of the Swansea Valley in South Wales, around 1971. We used to go to the pub for sessions and some of the locals would join in. I wish I had been more interested in collecting at that time...

"The words I heard sung were very close to a printed version, translated by Ieuan Ddu (the bardic name of the 19th century writer John Thomas). June heard me sing it c. 1976 and asked if she could have it. Other singers who took it up included Roy Harris and Pete and Chris Coe. June and Maddy changed the words considerably for the Silly Sisters album (perhaps there was an outstanding copyright on the John Thomas translation)."

Paul's first song was Adieu Sweet lovely Nancy (roud 165) and Denny's was Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie). Simon gave us Elizabeth Padgett's The Plover Catcher which brought the first rotation to its end.

Other songs that I need to mention this week are:

• Paul - Tracks in the snow (Steve Thomason) - not in the YouTube playlist but click on the title here to listen
• Denny - Follow me 'ome (* Rudyard Kipling, Peter Bellamy)
• Colin - Sicknote: the reply (Stanley Accrington) - not in the YouTube playlist
• Colin - Green peace, really green (* Geoff Pearson)
• Colin - Five o'clock in the morning (* roud V652) - not in the YouTube playlist

Colin rounded off the evening with The blackbird (Pete Budd, Tommy Banner, Tony Baylis).

(An asterisk "*" by a song indicates that it is new to the Dragon database, and may or may not be new to the club)

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

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)

Novelty without novelty songs (this time)

(photo: Simon Meeds)

It was great to see the return of Stan to last week's Dragon Folk Club session. We haven't seen him for a while and he had been missed. You will note that I have added to the tally of those present two non-singers. These were a couple of ladies who joined us for most of one of Paul's songs and while not entirely engaged with the folk club etiquette, they were very appreciative, so they have been counted.

Colin started off the session with Steve Cropper and Otis Redding's Sittin' on the dock of the bay, which according to the Dragon database may well have only previously been sung at the club by Keith G as Colin recalled.

Stan scored the first new song of the evening for the Dragon database (though not necessarily new to the club), all of which are marked in this report with an asterisk (*). It was I'll remember you (* Kui Lee). Stan recalled Elvis Presley's recording, but it was written by Lee who was an American singer-songwriter. Lee began his career in the mainland United States while performing as a dancer. Upon his return to Hawaii he worked in clubs. At the Honey club, he met Don Ho, who popularized Lee's compositions. Ho's fame made Lee a local success in Hawaii. Multiple artists then covered his song "I'll Remember You".

Paul gave us Adieu sweet lovely Nancy (roud 165) and Denny sang Icy acres (Colin Wilkie). Denny said she had sung this song that very morning while taking her customary dip in the Clevedon Marine Lake which was two degrees (celsius) colder than on her previous visit. Colin challenged her that she might instead have sung Ee by gum (but I'm cold) (John Meeks, Colin Radcliffe, Eddie Crotty) and indeed he went on later to sing it himself.

Simon finished off the first rotation with Graham Moore's Tom Paine's bones.

Stan was definitely hot on new songs for the database, and his next was In dreams (* Roy Orbison). He continued his run of novelty with Strawberry roan (* roud 3239 - Curley Fletcher). For an extra piece of trivia, did you know that current singing star Chappell Roan (real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) took her stage name from her grandfather's surname and this, his favourite song?

Simon, who was not present the week before, suggested that he might have honoured the visitors from Pennsylvania with Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia.

Colin broke Stan's run with his first contribution to the database: The Sandgate dandling song (* roud B24532 - Robert Nunn) on which the better-known Liverpool lullaby (Stan Kelly) was based - and so it crossed from the North East of England to the North West.

Paul sang Cicely Fox Smith's poem, Homeward to Sarah Morgan's tune and Denny seemingly challenged Colin, keeper of the official club record, with the title of the excellent (in my view) Rap her to bank (roud 1786).

Colin sang forth in Spanish for Guantanamera (* Joseíto Fernández, José Martí) and was followed by Stan with Scott Walker's hit song, Lights of Cincinatti (Tony Macaulay, Geoff Stephens).

Colin brought us the self-referencing Alan Price with his Jarrow Song (*). Of course the rappers of recent decades think nothing of mentioning themselves in a song, but this practice goes back further than Price and at least to Bo Diddley, possibly much further. Any suggestions of earlier examples are welcome. I'm sure there must be plenty from Music Hall and Vaudeville, and probably from the blues.

Stan came back in with Gonna get along without ya now (* Milton Kellem). I considered linking the first known recorded version by Roy Hogsed in 1951. Hogsed was born in a city which goes by the delightful name of "Flippin, Arkansas". The problem with linking this version was that it is barely recognisable as the same song as that sung in the version Stan referred to by Trini Lopez. Oh, go on, here is that first known recorded version.

We had a neat little, unintentional connected pair with Stan's I'll get over you (* Richard Leigh) from the singing of Crystal Gayle, followed by Paul's rendition of Fathom the bowl (roud 880) "There’s a clear crystal fountain near England shall roll".

Stan's and everyone's last "new" song of the evening was Sam Cooke's You send me (*). He went on to give us a precursor to the death three days later of Kris Kristofferson with Kris' song, I'd rather be sorry.

The last song of the evening came from Paul and was Farewell shanty. We don't expect to see Paul for a while since he's off to get some maintenance done, but it's not farewell, rather we hope he will be back and in fine voice in the not too distant future.

In the meantime we are back at the same time and place every Friday, so we really look forward to seeing you and ideally hearing you there.

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

(Number of people present - 7 of whom 5 performed)