Remembrance 2019

Shrouds of the Somme by Rob Heard, Bristol 2016
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We were once again thin on the ground last week for our Remembrance session. This Friday's will have no theme, so there is no excuse for not joining us. The next theme will be on 29th and will be for Saint Andrew's day the next day. Saint Andrew is of course patron saint of Scotland, which should give some scope for inspiration but you may also be interested in his other patronages. If you are really stuck you may be interested to know that his is the patron saint of singers!

Back to last Friday, Colin started us off in his customary manner with Fighting For Strangers, a version of Roud 3137 (Johnny I Hardly New Ye) having undergone adaptation by Steeleye Span.

I thought that this week's blog would almost write itself since many of the songs we sang were ones which get sung at our Remembrance session every year, but no! You will find the "a selection" link below relatively sparse because I was unable to find YouTube videos for quite a few of them, some for good reason others not so much.

Colin sang the Falkland Song, obviously based on the Blue (or whatever colour) Cockade (Roud 191) and apparently sung by the Welsh band Mabsant, but I couldn't find even a reference to it appearing on one of their albums never mind a record of who wrote it.

Derek sang another song about the Falklands War with the first line". As I was a-walking one evening through Portsmouth". Another line says "...when a missile got fired at a RADAR screen blip", which seemed a good search term but no luck at all on this one.

Simon once again fooled YouTube by singing Elizabeth Padgett's The Plover Catcher. Another unsurprising blank was drawn on Mike's own song, Away To The Western Front, sung to the tune of Shenandoah (Roud 324).

Colin gave us Full Moon Over Mozambique by gospel singer Garth Hewitt. At least I assume that's what it is because I have found no recording or lyric sheet for the song despite there being quite a lot of material on YouTube and elsewhere. If I am right it was on Hewitt's 1991 album Lonesome Troubadour.

It is recorded in a previous blog report that this isn't the first time Derek has challenged me to find a recording of There's A Simple Little Cross Out At Mons, apparently a 1919 music hall song. It also isn't the first time I have failed in that quest. Derek wonders whether anyone other than he has sung it since that year. If you know of anyone then please write on a postcard to... Oh, better still, leave a comment below or on our Facebook page. Yes, the link I used above for this song refers to something Derek himself wrote in 2007.

Colin brought out another seemingly obscure one in the form of Once We Had Dreams, written by Canon Rosalind Brown.

I managed to find a song called Kriegie Ballad (Robert Garioch - Roud 10516), the title Derek gave to his last of the evening which he began with "We sailed on the good ship Rapallo". While both songs were about the experience of prisoners of war in Italy ("Kriegie" was the PoW name for himself, a prisoner), they share some concepts and, if I remember correctly, the tune of Botany Bay (Roud 3267), there seems to have been some significant divergence or perhaps I just wasn't attentive enough to Derek's performance?

I have no problem tracing numerous recordings of Simon's song to close the evening which was Where Have All The Flowers Gone (Pete Seeger, Joe Hickerson).

Now why not listen to a selection of songs sung during this session which I was able to find on YouTube?

(Number of people present - 4, of whom 4 performed)