Dates for your diary

PC King on a 1972 Norton Commando
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We had a great little session last week at the Dragon Folk Club despite the absence of a few regulars. Before I mention what we sang there is an important news item to cover.

The autumn/winter theme season is here when many of our sessions have optional themes. Remember that where there isn't a theme there is still a session unless otherwise noted, and also that the themes are always optional; as usual at the Dragon Folk Club, anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

2024 Autumn/Winter theme season

18th October - Harvest

1st November - Halloween

8th November - Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes / Campfire

15th November - Armistice / Remembrance / War / Anti-war

29th November - St Andrew's Day / Scotland / St Andrew

13th December - Christmas theme

20th December - Christmas theme left-overs

27th December - **No session**

Yes, 27th December is one of those very rare Fridays when there is no Dragon Folk Club session. We should be back on 3rd January 2025 - watch this space for the latest.

Back to last week's session, we had a notable number of songs new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily new to the club. They are indicated in this report with an asterisk (*).

Colin, as the regular MC, started the session with Streets of London (Ralph McTell). Simon followed with Cyril Tawney's Sally free and easy, and Denny completed the first rotation with Mountains of Mourne (Percy French).

The first song new to the database came from Colin who sang Shalom chaverim (*) in several languages including English, Hebrew and Arabic. The title means "Peace, friends" and it is a Hebrew round. It is traditional, with unknown origin, possibly going back to the Habonim Labor Zionist Youth movement. The song expresses wishes for peace and well-being for a farewell, but has often been used advocating for peace.

This set off a flurry of anti-war songs, a dangerous ploy with our Remembrance-themed session just around the corner. This sub-theme included:

• Colin - H-bomb's thunder (* John Brunner)
• Denny - Cuddle against the war (* Nancy Nicolson)
• Simon - Jimmy Spoons (Mike Harding)

Colin sang Wayward wind (* Herb Newman, Stanley Lebowsky) which was first recorded by Gogi Grant in 1955.

Colin sang British Bobby (* DaveTurner) or rather Fred Wedlock's version of it which replaced Dave's home of Hyson Green, a neighbourhood in Nottingham, with Redland Green, a park in the Bristol suburb of Redland. Fred met Dave in the mid-70s on the folk circuit. "He stayed with me when he played in Bristol and I'd stay at his flat above a launderette in Hyson Green when I played in Nottingham." Fred added: "He wrote some very funny songs and he was a lovely, friendly, generous, gentle bloke. And a bit of a hippy, really."

Colin also gave us Windmills of your mind (*), first recorded in 1968 by English actor Noel Harrison after Andy Williams passed on it. The tune was written by French composer Michel Legrand. I remembered that it is a French chanson, and indeed the song is Les Moulins de mon cœur in French, the words written by French songwriter Eddy Marnay and first recorded by Marcel Amont, however it seems that the English words were written first which surprised me.

I'm drawn to Colin again for The Bristol slaver (*), written by Steve Knightley from whose songbook Colin often draws. Steve's song material often comes from Cornwall, but on this occasion we have lots of local references, particularly to Clifton.

It was Colin again who gave me interesting grounds for research with Wadham's song. It was written by a man called Wadham in 1756 as a pilot verse, giving directions to possibly functionally illiterate seamen navigating around Newfoundland between Bonavista and Notre Dame Bay. It was placed on record at the Admiralty’s Court in London shortly after it was first composed and was considered the best coasting guide for that part of Newfoundland to which it refers. Some people believe that such verses were recited rather than sung, and others that they were sung to popular tunes. Stan Hugill quotes Wadham's Song to the tune of I'll tell me Ma.

Closing the evening fell to Simon who sang Stan Rogers' Northwest Passage.

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

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