A record breaking performance

At last week's Dragon Folk Club session we didn't seem particularly rushed, the songs weren't particularly short and we certainly weren't devoid of chat, but nevertheless we seem to have broken the accepted previous Dragon record of 47 songs sung in an evening. We sang a total of 49 songs!

It all started off with Colin performing Dance ti thy daddy (roud 2439), possibly better known as When the boat comes in, having been the theme tune to a TV programme of that title. Simon sang Strike the bell (roud 4190) and Steve completed the first rotation with Sam Hall (roud 369, laws L5).

With so many songs I am sure you will forgive me if I pick out a bare minimum and invite you to listen to the rest via the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below.

There are four songs not included on that playlist:

• Colin - Convict's complaint
• Steve - When Adam was first created (roud 728)
• Colin - The bos'n, the gunner and me (Francis Barron, Henry Trotère)
• Colin - Windy old sailors (Chris Sugden - assumed) - sung by The Kipper Family and found only as a title on an obsolete version of the Sid Kipper website - I'm still not sure where Colin found the words, because it doesn't seem to have been recorded

Six songs were new to the Dragon database, though not necessarily in all cases new to the club:

• Simon - Percy Shaw (Roger Davies)
• Colin - Waiting for wages (Jill MacLean, Michael Raven or more likely traditional)
• Colin - Wicklow hills (Pierce Turner)
• Colin - Heaven's a bar (Tim Laycock)
• Colin - Drinking rum and raspberry
• Colin - Roots (Steve Knightley)

Colin returned to Steve Knightley for the last song of the evening, which was Cousin Jack.

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

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

There's going to be a revolution

Bolshevik forces marching on the Red Square

Last week's session saw six of us singing a wide variety of songs to no particular theme. This Friday the theme will be Halloween so we look forward to hearing your songs of ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties, or maybe hubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

It was good to see Phil after missing the last few months, bringing back his songs of 19th and early 20th century USA. Colin was MC and started off the session with Tim Laycock's Heaven's A Bar.

A few discernible mini-themes emerged during the evening, not least the singing of two quite different versions of the same song (Roud 1, Child 200). Colin started it off with Raggle Taggle Gypsy while Phil gave us the transatlantic version in the shape of Gypsy Davy.