Easter 2026

Calvaire à la Sainte-Baume
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

The Dragon Folk Club Easter session last week (on Good Friday) was egg-cellent, not only because we had a decent turn-out of nine people, eight of whom performed, but also because three of those people were first timers at the Dragon.

Lee and Kris, members of the band Reivers' Gallows,  had intended to visit us before, but at that time their chosen campsite was waterlogged, so it was not until now that they made it. Sam, the other newcomer, was on his travels by train and decided to drop in. The problem was that Facebook had sent him to the Bristol city-centre pub of the same name, so on finding us he was a little later than planned (no issue), and had to leave early to get back into town and catch his onward connection. Let's hope all three of them find their way back to our little club again. They all seem to have enjoyed it and we regulars definitely enjoyed their contributions.

The lesson is, to check that you have the right address for us. The most common issue is that Facebook insists on providing an inaccurate map (not exactly Sam's problem), so make sure you find us on Google maps or some other system, not using Facebook's mapping.

This Friday's session is very tentatively themed "Numbers" since it falls on the hundredth day of the year. We are likely to be low on the number of regulars, so your presence as well as your singing, playing, storytelling or anything else will be most welcome this week whether or not you wish to follow the proposed theme. As always, anything goes as long as it's acoustic.

Although Lee and Kris had arrived first it seemed a little unfair to ask them to open, so stand-in MC, Simon, started off in the Easter theme with The pace-egging song (roud 614). The theme was only lightly followed during the evening, but that's perfectly fine; our themes are always optional.

Next came Lee (guitar and vocals) and Kris (violin). Lee warned us that though most of his songs may seem familiar, they are usually somehow modified. I have taken a slightly inconsistent approach in this report to their songs, but where possible I have linked videos of Lee singing so you can get some idea of what was happening.

As usual for a duo we asked them to sing two songs. First they gave us Back Home in Derry (Bobby Sands, Lee). Sam asked whether the song was written before or after Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Lee agreed with Simon that the simple answer was "after", but said that his Irish father remembered singing something very similar before, so it was most likely adapted from a traditional song. Their second song was Matty Groves (* roud 52, child 81).

Paul's first song of the evening was Seven virgins (roud 127) and Denny added The good old way (roud 23864).

Sam's first song was Barbara Allen (roud 54, child 84). He said he'd added a refrain which is fair enough, but digging through the Dragon database I found Lucy Stewart's version, which seems fairly close to Sam's version and repeats the last line of each verse.

While this was strictly the end of the first rotation, it was at this point that Bob and Sue appeared. It seemed unfair to put them straight in the limelight, so they joined in early in the second rotation, Sue with The whistling gypsy (roud 1, child 200) and Bob with So much trouble (Brownie McGhee).

As is customary, I will mention all of the further songs from the newcomers. Kris's violin lost its tune due to the cool of the evening, so their last came from Lee performing alone with a little support from the chorus.

• Lee and Kris - The Handsome cabin boy (roud 239, laws N13)
• Lee and Kris - Roll the old chariot (roud 3632)
• Sam - Cells (* Rudyard Kipling, Peter Bellamy)
• Lee and Kris - Ye Jacobites by name (roud V31021 - Robert Burns)
• Lee and Kris - Blackleg miners (roud 3139)
• Lee - Crooked Jack (*  roud 41020 - Dominic Behan)

Apart from those mentioned already there was just one song added to the Dragon database, which was Sue's I will survive (* Freddie Perren, Dino Fekaris).

Simon brought the evening to a close, complete with a mention of Easter and with much support from the chorus, singing When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford).

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 any songs not included in the "a selection" playlist are marked with a hash (#).

New lease of life

The Jacobite Steam Train approaching Glenfinnan Viaduct
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

Your usual scribe wasn't at the Dragon Folk Club for last week's session and yet there was a decent turn-out including one very welcome newcomer, Joe, a very good guitarist and singer. Because I wasn't present please forgive any inaccuracies in this report. While I was provided with some good notes, there's nothing like being there to avoid having to make certain assumptions.

Paul Kicked off the 

Paul Kicked off the evening with Louis/Louisa Killen's The last Leviathan (*): a version of Andy Barnes' The Last of the Great Whales. This was not only the first song of the evening, but also the first new entry of the evening into the Dragon database and like all of them is marked with an asterisk (*). Denny followed Paul with The good old way (* roud 23864)

Next came Colin with Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, followed by the first pair of songs from Stuart an Carrie performing as a duo: Dink's song (* roud 10057) and On broadway (* Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller).

Bob's first song was John Prine's New train and Sue's was Swinging on a star (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke).

Steve gave us The Blarney roses (roud 6329) before newcomer, Joe performed a set of three tunes: Hector the hero (* James Scott Skinner), Merrily kissed the quaker (*), and a third the name of which he had forgotten. This brought the first rotation to a close.

It was Joe who had the next "new" song: Radiohead's No surprises (* Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway).

Stuart sang what I assume was Daniel Babin's Bryson city (*) and Carrie followed that with Gordon Lightfoot's Daylight Katy (*).

Joe's third performance was of The Lakes of Ponchartrain (roud 1836, laws H9).

Stuart brought us another "new" song in the traditional American Willie Moore (* roud 4816). Carrie also kept us on our toes with Ventura highway (* Dewey Bunnell).

Sue's own Recycled teenager is the only performance (apart from Joe's unnamed tune) that doesn't appear in the playlist linked from "a selection" below.

Joe's last song of the evening was also a self-penned song, but one that can be found on YouTube: Over and over (Joe Boon).

It fell to Paul to finish off the session with Dave Webber's The parting song.

We hope that Joe joins us again very soon, and that you, dear reader, also come and sing to us, with us, or simply listen.

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

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