Calm down children

Children of BALPA performing at Thornbury Carnival, 2019
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We really were scraping the barrel last Friday, starting the evening with three singers, and dropping to two before the break. You will understand then why there were fewer songs sung than usual and we called it a night when the break would usually have been.

Colin started us off with a parody of Wild Rover (Roud 1173) - Song Of The F.U. (The Kipper Family). Here FU stands for Farmers' Union. As far as I can work out, the union was the NFU from its formation in 1908, so I guess the "N" just didn't scan or maybe there is a contrary message in there somewhere?

Amphibian from the start

Frog in a lavoir (Photo: Simon Meeds)

A really short report this week because I'm going out to enjoy myself this evening! However you can still listen to versions of most of the songs we sung at last week's session via the "selection" link at the bottom of the page.

First of all I need to let you know that this week's session on Friday 29 March has a theme and it has been extended (blame me) to "April Fools, Mothering Sunday and Lady Day". Make of that what you will. Traditionally we have interpreted April fools as nonsense, good and bad luck but it's up to you to apply your own interpretation.

Give me that old time religion

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

It'll be a concise report of last week's session but I hope it will still give you a flavour of what happened.

There was a tongue in cheek note at the end of the previous week's blog report that there might be a theme of carrier bags. Colin started us off with his one plastic bag song: Benledi Street Ballad. Apparently Coin found three other songs about bags but hadn't been able to prepare them for performance.

I don't think Derek's Lake of Coolfin (Roud 189, Laws Q33) had anything to do with bags of any kind and neither did Geoff's first: Master McGrath (James Custer, Roud V32683).

A bit of fun

Last week's session had not a bad turn-out despite the absence of some regulars. We had three second-time visitors: John O and Chris O were once again in the area for a weekend's caravanning, which is to be encouraged (they previously visited in August 2016), and John B2 (to differentiate from our regular but absent John B) once again came with Phil (he last visited in October 2016). There was no official theme.

Colin was MC and started off with Richard Digance's What's The Use Of Anything.

Our fourth visitor of the evening, Richard, was known to Colin but was, as far as I am aware, a Dragon virgin. He was surprised to be called on so early, thinking that we might pass the baton around the room, whereas, subject to the MC's discretion, we usually take turns by order of arrival. Nevertheless, he gathered himself together and sang Sydney Carter's Lord Of The Dance.

Stories, songs and not-so-shaggy dogs

Elder Joseph Brackett

This week's count of humans was pretty good at twelve, and our number was indeed swelled by the presence of three canines. Apart from the usual Indy, we were joined by both Gerty and Freddie who seemed to mainly successfully show Indy a good example for folk session canine etiquette.

Richard was the MC and started off the evening himself with The Day The Pub Burned Down (RG "Bob" Edwards), which is a sort of New Zealand version of The Old Dun Cow (Roud 5323).

Derek correctly challenged me to be unsuccessful at finding a version of his first song on You Tube, it being Wardley's Great White Wall (note that the linked item is written by Derek himself), the song sung at the start of the last shift at Wardley Colliery, which had to shut down when the coal seam finished in a wall of chalk. Derek got the song from Dave Douglass, who worked at Wardley and who Derek thinks may have written the song.Derek was actually singing the song to mark the closure of Hatfield Main Colliery where Douglass later worked.

Nearly New Year and much mirth

Kipper Family

I arrived this week to find everyone sitting in the side bar supping their drinks. Apparently the electricity was off to the wing of the pub where our room is situated. In times gone by this would not have been a problem since we always held our sessions by candlelight, with the sole addition of the light on the dartboard. However, since refurbishment the use of candles had been prohibited, so we are usually in the still subdued glow of the electric wall lights. Apparently Maggie S usually brings her candles just in case but on this occasion she had not. The landlord came to the rescue with candles carefully waxed into "energy drink" glasses and we were quickly underway.