St David's Day 2022

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We're cooking on gas now. Five people two weeks in a row. This is what I'm talking about! Keep them coming and we'll be back to a sustainable, post-COVID sing-around club before you know it.

The optional theme last Friday was Wales and St David. Some stuck to it, others found tenuous links: very tenuous in some cases. It was great to see Gary pay us a visit after a long absence.

Colin, playing MC, started us off with Welsh History 101B (Heather Rose Jones). This was followed by Gary with his self-penned The Cobblestones of Carter Street. It was a sad tale of his childhood in Salford, where his mother tried to persuade him that it was the taunting by Gary and his friends which led to the suicide of the local rag and bone man.

Simon went topical rather than Welsh with The Marsh Family's version of the John Tams / traditional Over the Hills and Far Away (roud 3098). The family's version addresses the current crisis in Ukraine.

Mike went back to Wales with Max Boyce's Duw it's Hard. Geoff came through the door just as it was his turn to sing, and he brought out Roger Miller's King of the Road, to which we were all able to sing along.

I'll leave you to listen to most of the songs that were sung on the "a selection" link, and skip straight to the last round of four, Mike having left earlier in the evening. It started with Colin, still soldiering on with the Welsh theme and singing Men of Harlech (roud 24790, English words by Thomas Oliphant). Gary sang his own song The Loam and the Clay. Simon gave us Elizabeth Padgett's song The Plover Catcher about Lincolnshire in wartime.

Finally, it fell to Geoff to close the evening, which he did with The Kerry Recruit (roud 520, laws J8).

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

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

Six Nations of song - 2016

George Kruis goes over for England's
first try against Scotland (Inpho)

Shock horror, it seems that the previous week's session wasn't the record breaker we claimed. According to Mike, the record for the number of songs sung in an evening at The Dragon Folk Club is 48, and last week we only managed 46. Oh well, we'll just have to try harder next time - where are all those single line songs that Mike and Derek seem so readily to bring out when you least expect it?

Colin, being MC, proposed a rugby theme since the following day would bring the first games of the Six Nations. This was followed by some with songs from all those nations being represented together with various song of more or less spurious connection with rugby.