At last week's Dragon Folk Club session there were actually nine people and three dogs but I have counted two other people who stood at the bar for a few songs and didn't heckle, which is a bonus, thus bringing the human total to eleven, which isn't a bad showing.
Colin arrived slightly late to take up his role of MC, and it transpired he had forgotten his notes, so he was flying unaided for the evening. He asked Mike to start off and when Mike complained that he hadn't been first to arrive, Colin put him in his place... he's learning this MCing lark, at least giving back to Mike some of what he had received in previous years.
Mike started off with a song which he said was one of the few he knows which refer to a specific date, in this case 14 May: the day after the session. The song was The Bonny Black Hare (Roud 1656). He continued in a similar theme on his turn the second time round with The Keeper (Roud 1519).
Richard sang of Arthur O' Bradley (Roud 365) and Lesley of the Saucy Sailor (Roud 531, Laws K38).
Tom reminded Lesley of a record (a piece of black vinyl) in her collection bearing songs of Don McLean, as he sang two of the songs thereon: Empty Chairs and Crossroads.
Terry H brought to mind Ewan MacColl, singing his song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
Simon took us Sailing To Philadelphia (Mark Knopfler) with Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason.
Colin sang Sydney Carter's The Crow On The Cradle and Derek, having arrived unusually but fashionably late, sang last on the first rotation, giving us his first May-themed song of the evening: Pride Of The Springfield Road.
Lesley later started something by singing Les Barker's My Husband's Got No Porridge In Him, which Terry H thought quite risqué for such an apparently sweet and innocent lady, despite protests that it was just a fairy story (based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears). This led to a string of near-the-knuckle songs. Terry H himself claimed only to have one such song and immediately sang it Easy And Slow. Simon went about as low as you can go with Big Bamboo, that is unless Colin hadn't refrained from giving us the last two verses of Seven Drunken Nights (Child 274, Roud 114).
The final song of the evening was Dancing Fly, one of Tom's own, written on 7 January 1991, recalling the antics of a glistening damsel fly, observed while enjoying a picnic on the Quantock Hills.
Again there is no official theme next week. I am fairly sure someone will try to continue the May theme but you can come along and perform whatever you wish, or indeed just take your place and listen.
Here's a selection of songs sung during this session.
(Number of people present - 11, of whom 8 performed)
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