Easter 2025

Sanctuaire de la Sainte-Baume
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We had a great Easter session at the Dragon Folk Club. We loved welcoming first time visitors John and Howard who call themselves Old Friends, and now they are our friends too.

This Friday the optional theme will be St George's Day (just three days early). Don't worry if you can't follow the theme, but there's plenty of scope to follow it. St George, dragons and England are the obvious ones, but look also to his other patronages which include: agricultural workers, farmers, field workers, soldiers, archers, armourers, equestrians, cavalry, saddle makers, chivalry, peacekeeping missions, skin diseases, lepers and leprosy, syphilis, sheep, shepherds, scouting, Albania, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Greece, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Castile and León, Catalonia, Alcoi, Aragon, Genoa, and Rio de Janeiro.

Back to last week, according to blog tradition I will mention all of the songs sung by newcomers John and Howard (Old Friends). Songs which are new to the Dragon database, although they may have been sung at the club before, are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not in the YouTube playlist liked from "a selection" below are marked with a hash (#).

Colin started off with a proper Easter song: The pace-egging song (roud 614). Simon followed on with just a mention of Easter in The moonshine can (roud 9949).

Old Friends specialise in Simon & Garfunkel songs and as a duo were asked to sing two each round. They opened their account with Leaves that are green (* Paul Simon) and the eponymous Old friends (* Paul Simon).

Paul's first of the evening was the Easter-appropriate Seven virgins (roud 127) and Denny evoked Easter chicks with The chickens in the garden (roud 2552 - James Alan Bland). And so the first rotation was complete.

Colin once again brought us a seasonal offering with Dave Goulder's The Easter Tree.

John and Howard sang Scarborough Fair (roud 12, child 2) and Summertime (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin).

Apart from our visitors, Colin was the only one to add entries to the Dragon database during the session. He first did this with Johnny Cash's Redemption (*), and later with Eggs and bacon (*# roud 377 - collected from Stan Steggles). I didn't find a recording of Eggs and bacon, but I did find the closely related Eggs in her basket (roud 377).

Completing the collection of songs from John and Howard (Old Friends) we have:

• Vincent (Don McLean)
• April come she will (* Paul Simon)
• All I have to do is dream (* Boudleaux Bryant)
• Don't let the old man in (* Toby Keith)
• Detectorists (* Johnny Flynn)
• Man of the world (* Peter Green)

Paul gave us one song that didn't make its way to the playlist: Tracks in the snow (# Steve Thomason).

Denny closed the session with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

Three score and ten minus thirty

Today's news is tomorrow's chip paper
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session wasn't notable for there being a large number of singers, and there were no visitors, first timers, or long lost souls. Nevertheless those who were present had a pretty good time, a good sing and a good chat, which are the most important things when we meet.

It was the first time for a while that I've known before the end of the session what would be the featured picture in the report. In this case Denny sang a song which happened to coincide with an image I had created only a couple of days before for another purpose. I hope you realise it isn't mean to be disrespectful, but rather is a restatement of a principle understood by journalists for a very long time. I did check, and fish and chip shops started to become popular in Britain around 1860.

The title of this report refers to the same song, but also to the fact that we sang forty songs in the evening.

I'll keep this week's report very short because I've let the time roll on and I would have preferred to have it finished by now. Nevertheless you can hear all but three of the songs we sang in the playlist linked from "a selection" below. The remaining three are mentioned here and marked with a hash (#). Also two of the songs sung were new to the Dragon database and they are marked with an asterisk (*).

Colin started us off with Goodbye to you, dear Mabel (# Don Thompson).

Simon harked back to the previous week's unofficial Canada theme with Lukey's boat (roud 1828).

Denny took us to see The chickens in the garden (roud 2552) and Paul finished off the first rotation with Rose of Allandale (roud 1218 - words Charles Jefferys, music Sidney Nelson).

Colin provided the first new entry in the database with Swift and bold (celer et audax) (* Steve Knightley), maybe a subtle reference to the Olympic motto (citius, altius, fortius) while the games progressed in Paris.

As the evening progressed Denny sang the song I previously alluded to: Three score and ten (roud 16873 - William Delf).

Colin challenged this scribe by singing the almost untraceable Base over apex (# Bob Barratt,Tony Baylis). Later he made an addition to the database with History lesson (* Leon Rosselson)

Paul had a last practice of his own song Fathom my bowel (# Paul Welcomme) which is of course modelled on Fathom the bowl (roud 880) and provides a humourous take on his own history of cancer.

Paul was asked to finish off the session and he did that with When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

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

New faces

Medieval drawing of John Ball
giving hope to Wat Tyler's rebels

There was no theme at last week's Dragon Folk Club session. We were very pleased to be able to welcome two first-time visitors: Paul and Denny who offered us some fine songs and singing. They seemed to enjoy the evening and promised to come again, which is always good to hear.

In Colin's absence, Simon was MC for a change and started things off with Tom Paine's Bones (Graham Moore).

Thomas Paine (1736-1809) was one of the most significant figures of the 18th century. Took part in the American Revolution, writing a series of pamphlets, Crisis in America and Common Sense, which played a large part in that Revolution. He went on to write a forceful defence of the French Revolution, The Rights of Man, and was elected to the National Assembly. His Age of Reason caused outrage and he was widely ostracised.

Ten years after Paine's death, William Cobbett, a journalist, loyal Englishman and at one time Paine’s bitterest enemy, found his neglected grave and dug up the skeleton. Cobbett shipped the bones to England and they remained in his possession until his death. The bones were passed to a day labourer, then to Cobbett’s secretary, then to a furniture dealer, and no more is known of their fate.

Rob followed on with his own song, Ballad of Reynardine, which may or may not be related to the traditional ballad (roud 397, laws P15) of similar name; even Rob doesn't seem sure. In the traditional song Reynardine is a werefox who attracts beautiful women so that he can take them away to his castle. What fate meets them there is usually left ambiguous.

Paul wanted to warm himself (and maybe us) up with some chorus singing and therefore gave us Fathom the Bowl (roud 880).

Denny followed with a song with its roots in American minstrelsy, being written in 1879 by James Alan Bland - The Chickens in the Garden (roud 2552). Published in 1883, it quickly became popular and found its way into the tradition, mostly in the USA and Canada, and found its way across the Atlantic, eventually becoming a favourite of Norfolk singer Walter Pardon.

And so ended the first circuit of the room. As is traditional, I will go on to mention all the songs sung by our newcomers, Paul and Denny:

• Paul - Tracks in the Snow (Steve Thomason) - the only song from the evening not in the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below.
• Denny - When Yellow's on the Broom (Adam McNaughton)
• Paul - Waking Dreams (roud 22620)
• Denny - Down in Your Mine (Colin Wilkie) - inspired by a mining accident in Lengede, Germany, in 1963.
• Paul and Denny - John Ball (Sydney Carter)
• Paul - Love Farewell (roud 1301)
• Denny - The Lion and Albert (Marriott Edgar)
• Paul - Thousands or More (roud 1220)
• Denny - Willy 'Ole Lad (Keith Marsden)

Simon finished the evening with everyone singing along to When All Men Sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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

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