Spanish Ladies?

Photo: Simon Meeds

After the previous week's rather good effort, last week's Dragon Folk Club session was more what we might expect for Sidmouth Folk Festival time. With some core dragons off enjoying the Devon sounds we were down to a skeleton crew, but nevertheless we had a good time and were able to welcome two visitors briefly in our midst.

The fact that the ladies' toilet wasn't working again was a mixed blessing. On the one hand there was a constant trickle of women walking though our room - all respectful, which was nice - but on the other we got to enjoy a song from our pub-local friend Allie, and we met another young lady who was very complimentary about our singing and who it seems may drop in on us again for a proper visit, perhaps even bringing along her mother who is a morris dancer. We were able to send both of our valued visitors away with our branded beer-mats to remind them to come back.

Colin, MC as usual, started us off with Smith of Bristol, which is included in Dominic Behan's "Ireland sings: An anthology of modern and ancient Irish songs and ballads" (Dominic Behan)

One source claims that the origins of 'Smith of Bristol' can be traced back to the 17th century in Bristol, England. It was a popular sea shanty often sung by sailors and workers in the ports of Bristol. The song was originally known as 'Spanish Ladies' and was believed to be a traditional English folk song. However, in the 19th century, it was given the name 'Smith of Bristol' by the famous British song collector, William Chappell. The song gained popularity during the 19th and 20th centuries as it was sung by sailors on their long voyages. It was also a favorite among naval officers, and it is said that it was sung by the crew of the HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's voyage.

Simon's first song of the evening was Dolly Parton's Love is like a butterfly.

Given the small number of people present I will keep this fairly brief.

Colin's second song, was the first of two sung on the evening that is new to the Dragon database: The Chastity Belt (*). It was included in a musical revue called "Wait a Minim!" (1962-68) with original songs by Jeremy Taylor and listed as "Opening Knight". On the album of the show it is credited to Andrew Tracey, Paul Tracey, Jeremy Taylor. They may have written it or, it seems, may have obtained it as a joint effort between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the tune coming from Oxford.

On one of Allie's visits to the reserve ladies toilet she gave us her party piece of Here come the navvies (Ian Campbell). We already knew that Allie plays the saxophone (soprano I think), but we learnt that she also keeps bees.

The second new entry to the Dragon database came from Colin, and is a version of The mermaid (roud 124, child 289) sometimes called 'Twas in the broad Atlantic (* James Thomson, David Mallet) or Married to a mermaid.

In 1740, Thomson collaborated with Mallet on the masque Alfred which was first performed at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Thomson's words for "Rule, Britannia!", written as part of that masque and set to music by Thomas Arne, became one of the best-known British patriotic songs – quite distinct from the masque which is now virtually forgotten. The Prince gave him a pension of £100 per annum. In 1751 Mallet re-used the text of "Rule, Britannia!", omitting three of the original six stanzas and adding three new ones by Lord Bolingbroke, to form the repeated chorus of the comic song "Married to a Mermaid". This became extremely popular when Mallet produced his masque "Britannia" at Drury Lane Theatre in 1755.

We finished the session with a traditional closing song, led by Simon, Wild mountain thyme (Francis McPeake).

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

As hot as...

Photo: Simon Meeds

As expected at the end of another scorching day we were slightly low on numbers at last week's Dragon Folk Club session but we carried on singing. Paul selected from his repertoire songs he hadn't sung recently, Simon appropriately sang mostly songs relating to hot or warm weather, and Denny just sang some excellent songs.

Simon as stand-in MC and first comer started off the session with Three songs to one burden (*), a song written by our old friend Derek Brinkley. Denny followed on with I live not where I love (roud 593) and Paul finished the first rotation with Waking dreams (roud 22620).

Simon's second was The hippopotamus song (Michael Flanders, Donald Swann) where instead of singing a chorus in Russian as Flanders sometimes did, he switched to Latin:

Lutum! lutum! Pulcherrimum  lutum

veni, o veni huc mecum ablutum

sequimini cuncti, laeti coniuncti

et volvamur uncti in luto pulchro.

Looking over Paul's shoulder, Denny managed to follow from the front, singing Sweet thyme (John Conolly, Pete Mundy) in correct expectation of Paul's Wild mountain thyme (roud 541 - Francis McPeake).

When Simon followed that with Brian Bedford's This is the way the world ends Denny asked how she knew the writer's name. Brian Bedford was a member and the main songwriter of Artisan, the harmony group that also included his wife Jacey and Hilary Spencer. Simon thought that Denny may know Brian's song What's the use of wings (*) and so she did, from the singing of Vin Garbutt (his version which he called "Wings"), and so proceeded to sing it. Below the YouTube video of Vin's version I see Jacey Bedford has made this comment:

"We (Artisan) played Trowbridge Folk Festival many years ago, and Vin was on the same bill. We were put up in the same pub and late one night we were sitting in the bar with Vin, sharing songs. We sang What's the Use of Wings - that's its full title - and Vin immediately asked Brian if he could sing it, Brian was delighted, of course. Some years after that Artisan was invited to play the Port Fairy Festival in Australia and on the way we did a stop-over in Hong Kong where we were accommodated by the Hong Kong Folk Club (which was in Doyle's Irish bar in Kowloon - how surreal!). We sang Wings and the whole audience sang it with us... courtesy of Vin taking it there long before we did. Thanks, Vin, you took Brian Bedford's song around the world. Lovely job."

Paul returned us to our old friend Derek Brinkley by singing his song Lament for the fishing (#).

Simon spent some of the evening well off the folk piste, including sharing The bare necessities (Terry Gilkyson).

Denny charmed us with Linden Lea (William Barnes, Ralph Vaughan Williams), which became this week's photo feature thanks to a chance find only yesterday.

Simon took a leaf out of Denny's book by singing a popular song from the early 20th century - 1932 in this case. So he sang The sun has got his hat on (* Noel Gay, Ralph Butler) - and yes, he made a small word replacement from this original version found on YouTube. Ensuing talk of songs evolving to fit changing fashions and mores caused Simon to make his last song of the session Ol' man river (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II). Simon remembers watching a whole television documentary programme about adjustments made to that song over time.

Denny's final song was a good sing-along: Byker Hill (roud 3488) and Paul finished the session appropriately with the Farewell shanty. Having no reference for this other than that it is one sometimes used by our friend Mike Starkey when asked to sing at a funeral, I decided to do some digging. I didn't have far to look because MainlyNorfolk provides a quote from the notes for Brenda Wootton and Robert Bartlett's 1975 album Starry-Gazey Pie:

"Mervyn Vincent from St. Issy and Alan Molyneux from Plymouth are largely responsible for the revival of this lovely West Country shanty. Mervyn found it in an old book on boat-building and it later served as the closing song at Alan’s Breakwater Club in Plymouth."

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

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

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*).

Visitors from across the pond

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

After two weeks without a report the Dragon Folk Club blog is back and this is going to be a good one though I say so myself. There were sessions in the intervening weeks and I will try to put something together to briefly cover the necessaries of those events. In the meantime though here is the latest news from the club.

Last Friday's session sounds like a smasher though I'm afraid I wasn't there. There were three visitors, two of whom were singers. Not only that, but they were from another continent, though I believe one of them is currently resident in the vicinity.

Colin, as usual in his MC's seat, started things off with Leave her Johnny (roud 354). Bob followed on with Matchbox (Carl Perkins) and Sue sang Beyond the sea (Charles Trenet, Albert Lasry, Jack Lawrence).

Kate, visiting from Philadelphia, clearly picking up on Colin's first song, gave us Archimedes (The Lever) written by Nat Case and parodying Leave her Johnny. This was also the first of several new songs to be added to the Dragon database this week. The remainder I will simply tag with an asterisk (*).

Kate's friend Sadie, who also hails from across the pond, sang Tom Lewis' The last shanty. Since Sadie's friend Tom wasn't singing this marked the end of the first rotation of the evening.

As is traditional I will list all of the remaining songs sung by newcomers Kate and Sadie.

Kate:

• Will the circle be unbroken (Ada R. Habershon, Charles H. Gabriel)
• Mingulay boat song (Sir Hugh S Roberton)
• Goodnight Irene (roud 11681)
• Preacher and the slave (roud 9612 - Joe Hill)
• Wild mountain thyme (roud 541 - Francis McPeake)
• Solidarity forever (* roud 15158 - Ralph Chaplin)

Sadie:

• Tonight you belong to me (* Billy Rose, Lee David)
• Little boxes (Malvina Reynolds)
• Swingin' on a star (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)
• Take me out to the ball game (* roud 36252 - Jack Norworth, Albert Von Tilzer)
• Ten thousand miles away (* roud 1778 - attributed to Joseph B. Geoghegan)
• The rattlin' bog (* roud 129)

The other songs new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily new to the club, were:

• Colin - Erin grá mo chroí (* roud 14056)
• Sue - Tickle my heart (* Joe Brown)
• Colin - Death of a clown (* Dave Davies, Ray Davies)

There was just one song in the evening which isn't in the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below and that was Sue's own autobiographical version of House of the Rising Sun. There's nothing dodgy there, it tells of how she met her late husband on cycle tours of the Cotswolds and the course of her family life since.

It was also Sue who finished off the evening with George Harrison's Something.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 5 performed)

Burns' Night 2022

Robert Burns

It was a cosy early Burns' Night before a blazing fire. Who am I kidding, but with unseasonably mild weather I'm not complaining either. I've had my haggis and tatties and neeps since then, have you? We met on Friday to sing Scottish songs, and with a little poetic licence here and there that's what we did.

MC Colin went against tradition and asked Simon to start the evening which he did, with an actual Burns song, or at least one of those he collected and changed to be his own, Ye Jacobites by Name (roud V31021). Colin kept it Burns with Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation (roud V31022 - sequential roud numbers no less!).

Most of the remaining songs were Scottish, though not all Burns by any means. I will mention some of the more eccentric or less Scottish ones.

Colin brought out his customary ode to the chieftain of the pudding race, no not Address to a Haggis (Robert Burns) but Captain Beaky's offering: Haggis Season (Jeremy Lloyd, Jim Parker).

Simon's regular song, The Handweaver and the Factory Maid (roud 17771) is generally accepted to be from either Lancashire or Ireland. The version Simon got from the singing of Sylvia Barnes is clearly based in Glasgow. Whether it is traditional or Sylvia's own rewrite we do not know, but Roud doesn't list a Scottish version.

Colin borrowed from the repertoire of The Smothers Brothers the song Eskimo Dog (Dick Smothers, Tom Smothers), replacing "North Pole" in the first line of the first verse with "Scotland". The song is a parody of Whiskey in the Jar (roud 533).

Colin's A Scottish Holiday (JW "Bill" Hill) is a parody of The Road to the Isles (roud 32843). We learn that Bill is a retired local government officer who also worked in the field of education. He wrote some of the funniest songs to have come out of Scotland before retiring from the music circuit due to family commitments. He is now an Edinburgh tour guide.

It fell to Simon to close the evening which he did with what on the face of it is an Irish Song. Wild Mountain Thyme was written by France McPeake, but it is based on The Braes of Balquhither (roud 541) by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829).

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

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

Valentine's Day 2018

A blindfolded, armed Cupid (1452/66)
by Piero della Francesca

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was our closest to Valentine's Day, so it was our usual seasonal theme of Love and Lust, a theme which had a very high hit rate. In fact I think that there were only three songs that didn't somehow connect to the theme, but even they were for very good reason.

The first was Derek with what he said was Ewan MacColl's version of Windy Old Weather. This was the completion of his final pair of songs from the previous week's session. I managed to find the lyrics in this document (page 73) but without attribution. I did however manage to find reference to it in relation to a radio programme "Singing the fishing" which was one of the Radio Ballads series (broadcast 16 August 1960, repeated 6 November 1960) which included in its credits Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.

The other two off-theme songs should really have been admirably on theme. Derek sang The Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528, Laws K29) "On the 14th of February..." and Mike sang a hunting song, Last Valentine's Day (Roud 6475).

May Songs 2016

Photo by Eric Adamshick

Slightly thinner on the ground last week but a fun evening nonetheless. There was no official theme but I had hinted at May being an appropriate path to tread, and some of us trod it more or less closely.

Colin was MC and Derek kicked us off with Constantine a song from the Cornish village of that name which has a similar May tradition to its more famous neighbour, Helston. It is marked with a different version of Roud 1520 and the celebration is held one week later (this is a recording of the Helston version).

Mike was thinking of singing his Bristol version of Outward and Homeward but couldn't get it to start, so he made do with Wild Mountain Thyme (Roud 541), returning Homeward on our next rotation. Maybe it was this that suggested to Derek Sprig of Thyme (Roud 3) for a later turn or maybe just because it was appropriate to May.