Heading into winter with a smile

Brandon Hill, Bristol (Photo: Simon Meeds)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session had no theme, but several emerged. Simon tried to keep us smiling through the foul weather to come, while others reflected the season to some degree. We heard some new songs, some old songs, some borrowed songs, but in the absence of our friend Bob, not so many blue songs.

This Friday's session (12th December) will also have no official theme, but we have already had three or more Christmas songs as well as others pointing towards the season, so if your mind drifts that way we're not going to stop you. 19th December will be our official Christmas themed evening, and then we will have a break on 26th ready to hit the ground running for the New Year on 2nd January.

Colin, back in the MC's seat this week, started us off with The maid of Amsterdam (roud 649). Denny sag her new favourite November drinking song (Bryan Hawes, Martin Graebe), but in an attempt to keep it going changed it to the December drinking song.

Helen took us off to a Christmas scene with Winter wonderland (* Felix Bernard, Richard Bernhard Smith), and Paul followed Denny's theme of varied persons out drinking with Jones's ale (roud 139).

Simon completed the first rotation with a humorous take on winter: Down our street (roud 32257).

Colin's second song came from the pen of Gilbert O'Sullivan. It surprised everyone how early in his career he had written Nothing Rymed (*), but in fact it was even earlier than we believed at that time. It was released in 1970! I am however quite pleased that my guess was correct that he released Clair in 1972.

Helen introduced us to the singing and songwriting of TikTok sensation Rose Betts by giving us Irish eyes (*). In fact all the evening's remaining songs new for the Dragon Database came from Helen: Solstice Evergreen (* Adrienne Piggott)  from the Australian pagan folk rock band, Spiral Dance, and a surprisingly landward song, There are no lights on our Christmas tree (*), from the pen of Cyril Tawney.

The only song of the evening not found on YouTube and therefore not in the playlist linked from "a selection" below was perhaps unsurprisingly, Colin's The war junk Tennessee (# Willis - A quarter-gunner on the USS Tennessee and nephew of Nathaniel Parker Willis).

Paul finished the session with Bold Riley (roud 18160).

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

(Number of people present - 5 of whom 5 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 (#).

To the sea via Scotland and Lancashire

USS Tennessee was originally named
USS Madawaska in 1865 and
was renamed in 1869

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session combined songs left over from the previous week's dual themes of Scotland and Lancashire with quite a number of songs from or about the sea as well as some references to the imminent extreme weather (Storm Darragh was to bring gale force winds). As always, you can listen to most of the songs we sang by following the link from "a selection" below to the YouTube playlist set up for the purpose.

This Friday (13th December) the theme will be Christmas, so you can show your love for the festival your "bah humbug" or simply appreciate the related historical and/or religious themes. As always the theme is optional so anything goes as long as it's acoustic. And if that wasn't enough, next week's theme (20th December) will be "Christmas Leftovers". Yes, at the DFC we like to get started early on the turkey fricassée.

Remember that 27th December will be one of those rare Fridays when we don't meet, so save up those New Year and Twelfth Night songs for 3rd January when we will be back in the swing of it.

Returning to last week's session, Simon was unusually early arrival and so was asked to start: he sang The twa magicians (roud 1350, child 44). Colin followed on with Pay me my money down (roud 21449). Paul's first song of the evening was The leaving of Liverpool (roud 9435) and Denny gave us Ye Jacobites by name (roud V31021). The original song simply attacked the Jacobites from a contemporaneous Whig point of view, but Robert Burns rewrote it in around 1791 to give a version with a more general, humanist anti-war, but nonetheless anti-Jacobite outlook. This is the version that most people know today.

Like the week before there were no songs sung during the evening that were new to the Dragon database. There was just one song that couldn't be found on YouTube and is therefore not included in the linked playlist. There may be a very good reason for that...

The song in question, sung by Colin, was The war junk Tennessee (Willis). According to The Beaufort Tribune and Port Royal Commercial of 8th March 1877, "on board the United States steamer Tennessee a pleasant minstrel entertainment was given by the enlisted men. Among the features of the performance was a 'Chinese opera,' composed by a well known sailor poet and author, Willis, a quarter-gunner on the ship, who comes honestly by his knack of rhyme". It goes on to say that Willis was the nephew of Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), an American writer, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Presumably "Willis" was the son of NP's brother, Richard Storrs Willis who was a composer, mostly of hymn tunes.

The Beaufort Tribune continues that the song "is supposed to be sung in the character of a Chinese tailor, who sought a contract for supplying the crew with clothing."

The session was closed by Denny who sang Come by the hills (W Gordon Smith).

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

(Number of people present - 4 of whom 4 performed)