A bunch of Colins

The absent Colin (Photo by Simon Meeds)

Despite special levels of advertising, nay pleading, we really were only three at last week's session. There was officially no theme but I had suggested that in his absence we might sing songs from Colin's vast (although like mine, paper-based) repertoire and indeed everyone came up with something along those lines.

There is no set theme for this Friday's (12 April) session, so please help us make it a bit more populous... at least Colin should be back from his wee trip to Scotland.

Simon took up the MC baton and started off with the first song previously sung by Colin, Bless 'Em All (Fred Godfrey, Robert Kewley - Roud 8402). Geoff reminded us of Colin singing The Gasman Cometh (Michael Flanders, Donald Swann).

I'm not sure whether Derek's The Praties They Grow Small (Roud 4455) was one of Colin's but after perusing the official club record he had secured something for the next round, only to be thwarted (accidentally) by Simon singing Widecombe Fair (Roud 137) which was his chosen song.

Leaving Colin for the moment, Geoff sang two songs by Steve Barri and PF Sloan: What Exactly's The Matter With Me and Let Me Be. Derek also came up with a pair of songs later in the evening, one of his customary sets of twins: The Volunteer Organist (William B Gray, George Spaulding - Roud 5378) and The Volunteer Putter, a conversion of the same song on the subject of a miner who brought empty coal tubs up to the coal face and took loaded tubs to the pit bottom. In Northumberland he was called a putter, hurrier in Yorkshire and waggoner or drawer in Lancashire.

In the end Derek managed a contribution from the singing of Colin. It was Salonika (Roud 10513).

Having soldiered away with Colin's sings for the whole evening, Simon wandered off the path to close the evening slightly early with Stan Rogers' Northwest Passage.

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

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