The Famous Five

Dawn, South Maple Street, photo: Keith Carver

The ‘thirteenth’ alternative scribe arrived at the Bridge Inn at the same time as Colin, our regular MC, so organisationally we were looking good. Just after 8.15 pm Derek arrived and boosted the number of attendees by 50%.

Derek brought good news, Maggie L was feeling better than she had been, and he was also able to stay for the whole evening. He could not, however, be persuaded to exercise his status as first alternative scribe and gleefully declined my invitation. Colin announced there was no theme and Derek declared that he had a whole ream of Irish songs to still get through from the week before.

Mike arrived and further increased the attendance by 33% and we waited patiently in the hope of more arrivals.

Colin, as MC, decreed we should wait no longer and started us off with Time To Ring Some Changes (Richard Thompson). Geoff followed with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Burt Bacharach, Hal David). At this point our attendance surged upwards by another 25% with the arrival of Jo from the Chipping Sodbury Folk Night.

Before Derek’s second song he announced ’The wind up of the substitute scribe begins here’ and began to sing in what I believe was Irish. He changed to English after the first verse and I picked out the words ‘dawning of the day’. I glanced at Colin’s notes and saw we had come to the same conclusion. (Fáinne Geal An Lae).

Before Derek’s third song he asked if Colin and myself had recorded his last song as ‘The Dawning of the Day’, Colin and I both confessed we had. Derek beamed magnificently and proceeded to sing The Dawning Of The Day.

[A quick note from your usual scribe to finish off. I would like to thank Geoff for standing in for me last week. He did a tremendous job. I don't believe there is an official theme this week, so come all ye with your songs, tunes and other miscellaneous performed artefacts, or indeed with nothing but a pair of willing ears to listen.]

Here's a selection of songs sung during this session.

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