A welcome return

Redcliffe Wharf, Bristol (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last Friday's Dragon Folk Club session was special to those of us who have been around for a while. Not only did we have a highly respectable head count, being joined by regular irregulars Roger, Stuart and Steve, but were able to welcome back to the fold the long absent Derek and Maggie, complete with new canine companion Bertie.

Like last week's, this week's session will be without a theme so as usual anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Despite having memory issues and having not sung in public for three and a half years, Derek made a valiant attempt with four songs from his formerly vast repertoire. Both Derek and Maggie joined in with numerous choruses in fine voice and we hope to see them again soon.

Colin started us off with Last night I had the strangest dream (Ed McCurdy) and Roger followed him with This land is your land (Woody Guthrie).

Stuart had expected to be accompanied by Carrie, so when she turned out to be unavailable he had to quickly rework his set-list. His first was Bert Jansch's Soho (*).

Simon opened his account with Bonny ship the Diamond (roud 2172).

Paul sang Song for Ireland (Phil Colclough, June Colclough) and Denny stayed in the Irish Sea with The Ellan Vannin tragedy (Hughie Jones).

Derek offered us the first song he had sung at the beginning of his singing career, suggesting that this evening was the end of it (we hope not). The song was Roger Watson's Invalid miner (#).

Steve closed the first rotation with The rare ould times (Pete St John).

In the second rotation Stuart gave us a song new to the Dragon database which I believe was How long, how long blues (* Leroy Carr).

Derek's second song was one I think he calls The lobster (roud 149) though I wouldn't be surprised if he collected it from Cyril Barber who apparently called it Jimmy Johnson. His next song was Mary went to a tea party (# roud 24991) which he collected from Bertha Brown.

Colin sang Robb Johnson's More than enough (*).

The last "new" song of the evening came from Stuart and was Roger McGuinn's version of the traditional He was a friend of mine (*) which deals with the subject of John F Kennedy's assassination. Stuart's final performance was a repertoire first with Lady Franklin's lament (roud 487, laws K09).

Derek's final song was Jack Hall (roud 369, laws L5) and the final song of the evening, coming from Steve, was Leave her Johnny (roud 354).

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

(Number of people present - 9 of whom 8 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though no always new to the club) are marked with an asterisk (*) and songs not to be found in the playlist linked from "a selection" are marked with a hash (#).

The new normal?

Liverpool's Three Graces
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's session was back at The Bridge with new, possibly temporary management. They seemed like reasonable guys and they were happy for us to be in our usual room. We were relatively small in number, but some decent songs were sung, and we were joined by newcomer Stan who some of us knew from other sessions.

Colin, MC as usual, started the evening with The sheep are 'neath the snow, a traditional Manx song - Ny Kirree Fo Niaghtey in Manx.

Stan sang a song made famous by Scott Walker, and written by Tony Macaulay and Geoff Stephens: Lights of Cincinatti. Like Stan's Denny's first song was new to the Dragon database (though not necessarily new to the club): Pretty Saro (roud 417).

Paul gave us Dave Webber's Bonnet and Shawl.

Simon followed Colin's lead in a way by singing The Ellan Vannin Tragedy (Hughie Jones) about the Isle of Man ferry named after the island in Manx which sank in 1909.

I'll continue as has become tradition, mentioning mainly songs sung by newcomer Stan and songs not already in the Dragon database.

Stan perhaps recalled the Ellan Vannin when singing The leaving of Liverpool (roud 9435), yet Denny kept us in that city with The ballad of Seth Davy (Glyn Hughes).

Paul took us into the London sewers with Sydney Carter's Down below (roud V53400). This song was apparently sung by Stanley Holloway, who was of course famous for reciting monologues written by Marriott Edgar, such as The recumbent posture, which Simon gave us to follow Paul.

Stan gave us two songs by Pete St John: The fields of Athenry and The rare ould times.

Denny turned to Gospel by singing Blessed quietness (Manie Payne Ferguson).

Paul amused us with Jon Heslop's Dead knight behind the hedge, a mashup of Twa corbies (roud 5, child 26) and The knight on the road (roud 20, child 3). This one isn't in the YouTube playlist linked from "a selection" below.

Colin's The saucy Arabella (roud 8343) was noted as having similarities to The Rosabella (roud 21134).

Stan sang Kris Kristofferson's I'd rather be sorry.

Denny set me a challenge which I'm afraid I haven't been able to fulfil. Her song Wayhill Fair comes from a tape she has of The South Bank Grunters. It seems to be related to Weyhill Fair (roud 1086), but isn't so much about horses at the fair.

Stan sang Ralph McTell's From Clare to here. Stan told us that McTell wrote the song inspired by an Irish builder, and that he could relate to it having often worked with Irish builders on sites in various locations.

Paul proudly sang his parody of Close the coalhouse door (Alex Glasgow) which he calls Close the dentist's door having written it while waiting for Denny to have root canal work done. His pride was because he sang it for a parody competition at the 2023 Sidmouth Folk Festival's Middle Bar. He left the event understanding that he had come second, but later heard that after a recount he had been declared the winner.

Colin gave us The Cotswolds, written by Mick "Shag" Connors.

Stan's last song of the evening was Massachusetts, written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb - the Bee Gees. This takes us back to the beginning of the evening with an Isle of Man connection for the Gibb brothers were born on the island.

Paul rounded off the evening with Dave Webber's Parting song.

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

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

Some more nonsense

(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last Friday's session was a time for announcements of forthcoming themes, so here are some dates for your diary:

• 14 Feb - St Valentine - principally love and lust but taking note of his patronages: Affianced couples, against fainting, beekeepers, happy marriages, love, plague, epilepsy, Lesbos
• 28 Feb - St David - Wales; Pembrokeshire; Naas; vegetarians; poets
• 20 Mar - St Patrick - Ireland, Nigeria, Montserrat, Archdiocese of New York, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, Boston, Rolla, Missouri, Loíza, Puerto Rico, Murcia (Spain), Clann Giolla Phádraig, engineers, paralegals, Archdiocese of Melbourne; against snakes and sins
• 24 April - St George - England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Catalonia, etc.; agricultural workers, farmers, field workers; soldiers; archers; armourers; equestrians, cavalry, saddle makers; chivalry; skin diseases, lepers and leprosy, syphilis; sheep, shepherds;

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.

Mainly mining

Durham Miners' Gala (Photo: Darrell J Rohl)

Last week's session looked like being similar to the previous one with four people present at the start but over the course of the first few songs our numbers were swelled to a respectable eight. There was no official theme and Colin, in his role as MC, started us off with John of Dreams (Bill Caddick, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky). Colin noted that this was a song often sung by our friend Terry C at our sessions.

Two further songs from Terry C's repertoire were sung, mike, pointing out that he had been singing it longer than Terry, gave us Eric Bogle's No Use For Him and Simon sang Hughie Jones' The Ellan Vannin Tragedy.

A late May miscellany

Frank Kidson

Some people managed to keep up the May theme this week, and even Richard found one May song, having previously given up after spending most of the preceding four months singing them. Apart from that we had somewhat of a miscellany this week.

Mike kicked off proceedings with the Card playing song (Roud 884). According to the sleeve notes of the album Bold Sportsmen All: Gamblers and Sporting Blades on which Ewan McColl sings the song, "Folksong collector Frank Kidson obtained this song from a soldier who learned it in India in the 1850s. Originally, each verse was sung by a different member of the company, who drained his glass midway through the stanza, to give himself inspiration. Other less decorous versions have come to light. This example is offered to would-be singers as a model on which they may make their own improvisations."

Maritime and mining disasters

Just before we started the Drunken Friesian made her first appearance for a few weeks. We thought she was going to leave us alone without a word but at the last minute turned back, apparently threatening death to anyone who found her lost lighter. That seemed a rather upside down take on the idea of thanks or reward. This sent Maggie S into singing a single chorus of Hev you got a loight boy?

Mike started off the session proper with The twenty-third of February, another version of Bold Princess Royal, sung by Derek last week. Apparently there were several different ships under similar names at the time. Derek's was a merchant ship but Mike's is a man o' war.

We were relatively small in number this week, though not as thin on the ground as sometimes in the last couple of months. What we lacked in numbers we seem to have gained in speed, since the number of songs sung in the evening must have been a recent record. Whether the chat was minimised or the songs short we may never know.

Remembrance

Ebenezer Theodore Joshua

This week there was no Mike or Maggie so Richard was in charge and, being the closest session to Remembrance Sunday, remembrance and war was the theme.

Most of the small number of us assembled joined in the theme.In fact Gary started the theme off last week with his song, White poppy.

Colin started us off with Ghost Story. I don't usually add too much in the report that wasn't said on the night, but my hunt for this on the web was an interesting one. Unfortunately I didn't find a recording, but I did find this mention of the song. The first place I saw it was on the website of The Church Times: