Bonfire Night 2023

NOBODY LOVES ME

'Nobody loves me.

I'm going into the garden to eat worms.

Yesterday I ate two smooth ones and one woolly one.'

Once again I have limited time to complete the blog report for the Dragon Folk Club last week, so pardon me if it is slightly shorter and more terse than usual. Since we are in theme season last week's was Bonfire Night including campfire songs, community songs and anything else vaguely connected. This week's session (10 November 2023) also has a theme which is Remembrance. That could be songs, tunes, poems, stories or whatever on war, anti-war, remembrance, songs used in wartime by soldiers, sailors or airmen, or to keep the spirits up of the civilians back at home. Pretty much anything goes with the usual proviso that it must be acoustic.

Back to last week, I won't single out which songs were or were not on theme. I'll leave that to you to decide. That may be easier if you watch and listen to the videos in the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" at the end of the report.

Colin was MC, but he deferred to Neil for the first song which turned out to be Galway shawl (roud 2737) after which it was back to Colin for Oh, how the money rolls in (* roud 10143). The latter was the first song of the evening which was new to the Dragon database. Subsequent such songs are marked with an asterisk (*). They may or may not be new to the club, but most songs sung here since August 2018 are in there - the club has been going since 1969.

Next was Denny with Land of the silver birch (* roud 4550), which is new to the database but definitely not to the club. Paul continued with Here we sit like birds in the wilderness (* roud 19557) - more of that later.

Simon subtly joined the theme with John Denver's Rocky mountain high.

From Bob we got See see rider (* Ma Rainey, Lena Arant) and from Sue Riders in the sky (Stan Jones).

After a light aberration of ordering Rob actually sang between Bob and Sue, but we can bring our record of the first rotation to an end with his own song, Magic on the wind, which in his own words "is distantly related to child 39", which is Tam Lin.

I'll continue with a list of the remaining songs new to the Dragon database:

• Neil - Twa Corbies (* roud 5, child 26), a Scottish version of The three ravens which was in the database, so this is only a half score
• Rob - You will burn (* Peter Knight)
• Neil - Sunday after the war (* Daniel Kahn)
• Denny - Kookaburra (* roud 36114 - Marion Sinclair)
• Rob - Martinmas time (* roud 54, child 84)
• Denny - Nobody likes me (* roud 12764), new to the database but last sung at the club for Bonfire Night 2016
• Neil - Cable Street (* Michael Hughes, Sean Cooney, David Eagle)
• Paul - gave us another version of Here we sit like birds in the wilderness (* roud 19557) where the waiting is specifically to be fed

Rob saw us off with his own pet version of The herring song (roud 128), which I think we can categorise as a mash-up of the version sung by Mikeen McCarthy and a chorus based on the version sung by John Roberts and Tony Barrand.

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

(Number of people present - 8 of whom 8 performed)

Eerily quiet

Friendly zombies in Dublin (Photo: Simon Meeds)

We aren't setting themes for our sessions at the moment but last Friday presented an obvious opportunity to bring out something spooky for Halloween. Unfortunately only two of us rose to the challenge.

Colin MCing started the evening off with a song of his own writing entitled Great Uncle Frank which Simon followed up with the properly traditional Halloween Souling Song (Roud 304).

And so it all came round too quickly this time; back to Colin for Dancers of Stanton Drew (Jim Parker, Muriel Holland), a cautionary tale from Somerset warning not to dance on a Sunday. Simon drew on the songwriting of Russian / Ingush performer Daria Kulesh and her song Begone! (The Witch of Walkern) telling a story from her adopted Hertfordshire about a woman accused of witchcraft and saved by a judge from the city.

Colin took his next from the singing of Martin Carthy: The Devil and the Feathery Wife (Roud 12551) while Simon took us westward for Stan Jones' 1948 song Riders in the Sky. Yes, the word "Ghost" was not in the original title.

Back to Colin for The Wife of Usher's Well (Roud 196, Child 79). Colin often takes songs from the works of bands such as Steeleye Span, but in this case though they popularised it, he assures us his version is from the tradition. Simon's song this round was certainly not from "the tradition" being a 1971 hit single by Native American band Redbone, Witch Queen of New Orleans (Lolly Vegas, Pat Vegas).

Being such a small contingent we wove much conversation through the evening touching such subjects as guitar playing, the Roud index and Wikipedia.

Finally we came to the closing round where Colin sang Widecombe Fair (Roud 137) and Simon finished with Zombie Jamboree (possibly written by Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr).

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

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

Halloween 2019

Is it a bat? (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Our Halloween session was slightly curtailed by the rugby las Friday. Specifically The Bridge Inn closed early in preparation for an early opening on Saturday for the World Cup semi-final. Given that England is through to the final this Saturday we are expecting a similar approach so please make an effort to be there for a prompt start at 8:15pm on 1 November. Don't worry if you do turn up later, we will continue without a break until we are asked to leave... last week it was a little before 10pm. The session will be Campfire themed, to mark Bonfire Night on the following Tuesday.

Your campfire songs will be very welcome together with anything relating to bonfire night, attacking parliament, fireworks or anything else you can think of. Themes are never compulsory though so if you don't have anything relevant just turn up and show us what you can do, which may even just be listening and joining in the banter and a chorus or two.

Halloween 2018

Friendly zombies in Dublin (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's session was Halloween and this Friday it will be a Campire theme. You are always very welcome to join us but particularly this week if you can contribute songs, tunes, poems or stories relevant to Guy Fawkes, fireworks, bonfires, campfires or anything else that seems appropriate.

Last Friday's session started before the whistle blew and even before I arrived. I am told that a pub regular entered the room and offered to sing. He gave those present two songs which I understand to have been The Queen Of My Heart (Jimmie Rodgers) and Devil Woman (Terry Britten, Christine Holmes). We might even suggest that the latter was on theme!