A record breaking performance

At last week's Dragon Folk Club session we didn't seem particularly rushed, the songs weren't particularly short and we certainly weren't devoid of chat, but nevertheless we seem to have broken the accepted previous Dragon record of 47 songs sung in an evening. We sang a total of 49 songs!

It all started off with Colin performing Dance ti thy daddy (roud 2439), possibly better known as When the boat comes in, having been the theme tune to a TV programme of that title. Simon sang Strike the bell (roud 4190) and Steve completed the first rotation with Sam Hall (roud 369, laws L5).

With so many songs I am sure you will forgive me if I pick out a bare minimum and invite you to listen to the rest via the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below.

There are four songs not included on that playlist:

• Colin - Convict's complaint
• Steve - When Adam was first created (roud 728)
• Colin - The bos'n, the gunner and me (Francis Barron, Henry Trotère)
• Colin - Windy old sailors (Chris Sugden - assumed) - sung by The Kipper Family and found only as a title on an obsolete version of the Sid Kipper website - I'm still not sure where Colin found the words, because it doesn't seem to have been recorded

Six songs were new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily in all cases new to the club:

• Simon - Percy Shaw (Roger Davies)
• Colin - Waiting for wages (Jill MacLean, Michael Raven or more likely traditional)
• Colin - Wicklow hills (Pierce Turner)
• Colin - Heaven's a bar (Tim Laycock)
• Colin - Drinking rum and raspberry
• Colin - Roots (Steve Knightley)

Colin returned to Steve Knightley for the last song of the evening, which was Cousin Jack.

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

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

An eclectic mix

It was really great to have Geoff back in the fold for last Friday's Dragon Folk Club session. I know he's had a hard time and it's good to see and hear him again. There was no particular theme and the evening was really marked by an eclectic selection of songs. As usual you can hear most of them in the playlist linked at the bottom of this report. In the meantime I'll mention just a few.

Colin as MC started us off with Lyle Lovett's If I had a boat. This was followed by Cat Stevens'/ Yusuf's Moonshadow from Geoff.

Simon took us to a sillier place with Proper Cup Of Coffee (roud V53398 - RP Weston, Bert Lee). And Colin kept us there with The Prune Song (roud V35166 - Frank Crumit, Harry De Costa).

The only song of the evening not present in the playlist is Colin's The Bos'n, The Gunner And Me (Francis Barron, Henry Trotere). In a previous blog report I linked a recording by Tom Lewis, but that has now been removed from YouTube.

Simon rounded off the evening with Strike the Bell (roud 4190) which was sufficiently rousing and joining-in to be a decent finisher.

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

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

Short but I hope sweet

Frontispiece depicting Juvenal and Persius,
from a volume translated
by John Dryden in 1711

It's a really short report of last week's session I'm afraid due to lack of time but first of all, please remember that this Friday's session will be our theme for St David's Day, so it's mainly Welsh but remember that he is also patron of poets and vegetarians, Pembrokshire and Naas in County Kildare, Ireland.

Colin started us off with The Bos'n The Gunner And Me (Francis Barron, Henry Trotere).

Simon spent the evening singing songs he had left over from Valentine's Day the week before, starting with No Sir No (Roud 146). Inspired by the line "If my hand should slip a little further" from the previous song, classicist Derek told the story of a young lady who had studied Juvenal's Satires  and had always wanted to know the meaning of an obscure Latin word used when one character's hand was slipped up the clothing of another character. She found the biggest and best Latin dictionary in the University library, and found that the word was translated... into its Greek equivalent. Now keen to get to the bottom of the mystery, she found the biggest and best Greek dictionary, where the Greek word was translated... back into the Latin! Derek sang Sullivan's John (Pecker Dunne).