Surprise, Surprise!

In the knowledge that the Regular Scribe would be absent on a mission of mercy, your Substitute Scribe came to the club door, depressed by the idea that the death that day of Derek Fowlds signified bad news for all Dereks, and anticipating a thin attendance. Instead he was met by three of our favourite Irregulars.

One person who did not attend was the one who the day before had stumped up a million pounds for a gold sovereign. He might well have been worried by Gary's first, self-penned, song King David Hartley which recounts the activities of the eponymous Hartley and his gang of counterfeiters and coin clippers in the area around Heptonstall in the 1760s.

Danger, men at work

Photo by James Butler

There was no official theme this week, so song subjects were a little all over the place. We initially gathered as nine but when Colin, who MCed, asked Steve G to sing, Steve said he had to leave immediately. It's OK, we hadn't upset him, but it did mean we were down to eight and Steve didn't get to sing this time.

Derek kicked off the evening with The Ballad Of William Bloat by Raymond Calvert and Mike responded with The Deserter/Ratcliff Highway (Roud 493).