Songs and stories

The bellringers (Photo: Simon Meeds)

It was songs and stories at the Dragon Folk Club session last week thanks to our occasional visiting story-teller Jane. It was great to see, and hear, her. 

I'm not aware of an official theme this Friday, so bring whatever songs, tune, stories or other types of performance you wish, maybe forming your own personal theme, but that's definitely not a requirement.

Colin, our regular MC, starting things off with Steve Knightley's Tall ships. Simon gave a first outing to is version of The lish young buy-a-broom (roud 1865).

Paul found Somewhere to begin (T R Ritchie) and Denny looked for her Young banker (roud 3321).

Steve sung about William Stone (Graeme Miles) before Jane gave us the first of her stories to finish off the initial rotation. Jane's story, called Sammy (* Jane), was a true one about a rook which her mother rescued and which then coexisted for some time, happily it seems, with the family's car and bull terrier dog. I won't let on the direction of the story for fear of spoiling it if Jane tells it to you.

All of Jane's performances were new to the Dragon database, probably because we hadn't heard them before, but even if we had I haven't previously recorded many of then, so who knows?

• Being on my own (Jane) - a poem about the fact that she likes her own company
• Jane's school friend Nick (Jane) - about a school friend who was an ornithologist with whom she had some adventures, and who had a tendency to appear at unexpected times.
• A lament for a bath (Jane) - a poem for a friend who is no longer able to enjoy her beloved bath times.
• The last elephant - a story about the last elephant and its keeper, perhaps triggered by Paul's singing of The last of the great whales (Louis/Louisa Killen).
• The flatmate - a joke in the form of a story about a young man, his female flatmate and his mother. 

The only song of the evening new to the Dragon database - but certainly sing at the club before the database was created - was Paul's John Kanaka (roud 8238), the penultimate performance of the evening.

Denny finished off the session with The bellringing (roud 1515).

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

In the above report songs new to the Dragon database (though not 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 (#).

Almost normal

After a few weeks of ups and downs we were back to some sort of normality last week. The environment was acceptable, and all the usual people were present. All we were missing was a selection of welcome visitors, but we can't have everything and we have enjoyed a good variety of those in the previous weeks and months. Let's hope there are many more to come.

Colin, our usual MC, got the session going with Smith of Bristol. One source I've found claims that the song can trace its roots back to the 17th century and relates it to Spanish Ladies (roud 687), but I'm not so sure because I can't find that in any of my usual, mostly authoritative, sources. It is in Ireland sings: An anthology of modern and ancient Irish songs and ballads (Dominic Behan) [song number 83]. It doesn't have a roud number though it seems to be traditional.

Simon sang his own song, The story of John Twigg (Simon Meeds): the true story of an eccentric chap who lived in Alford, Lincolnshire.

Denny followed that with Young banker (roud 3321) and Paul gave us Adieu Sweet lovely Nancy (roud 165) which is related to Swansea town.

Sue promised something uplifting and sang The crawdad song (roud 4852) before Bob predictably brought us back down with Blood red river (roud 15807). Was Sue thinking of this later when she sang Red river valley (roud 756)?

Denny sang the first song of the evening new to the Dragon database with Charlotte Oliver's Idle women of the waterways about women who worked on the narrow boats during the Second World War in a similar way to the more familiar Women's Land Army whose members worked in the fields.

The next new song to the database was Colin's rendition of Ewan MacColl's Browned off. While this song may be new to the database it certainly isn't new to the club having been sung by our late friend, Pat. Pat was from the North East of England, so it was fitting that the songs which followed were too: Simon with The Lambton Worm (roud 2337), and Denny with Teeside Bridges (Erik Gooding), another song new to the database. Erik, a mathmatics student, worked a holiday job with the Dorman Long Company in Teeside as steel stocks piled high. Erik also worked for a year in Australia as a maths teacher at Scotch College in Melbourne.

Paul suggested that Country life (roud 1752) was first sung by music hall artist Harry Linn. Linn certainly wrote a related song, also categorised as 1752 by roud, but his song: Eggs for Your Breakfast in the Morning is rather different. What I don't know is which song came first. The Watersons got Country Life from Mick Taylor, a sheepdog trainer of Hawes in Wensleydale.

Bob added one to the database with Gram Parsons' Luxury liner and the last new entry of the evening was for Denny with Icy Acres (Colin Wilkie).

Sue closed the session with Ian Tyson's Four strong winds.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

The gathering

George Müller

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session was notable mostly for the presence of first time visitor, Gavin who sang entirely his own songs, most of which were about local events and people. He had been planning on visiting us for some time and last week the stars aligned. He seemed to enjoy the evening and we enjoyed his singing, so let's hope he returns soon.

Not least with Gavin's presence there were quite a number of songs which were new to the Dragon database (if not in all cases new to the club) so I'll simply mark them with an asterisk (*). There were also a few which aren't in the playlist linked from "a selection" below, so I'll mark those with a hash (#).

Colin, the MC as usual, started things off with Let union be in all our hearts (* roud 1238) and Simon followed that with Tom Paine's bones (Graham Moore).

Gavin informed us about the Cooper's Hill cheese-rolling with his song Cheese rolling (* Gavin Ball).

He says he may attend the event one day, but not to take part - for that you have to be slightly crazy and prepared for the possibility of coming home with broken bones.

Denny gave us Young banker (roud 3321) before Paul took us back to the cultured milk with Les Barker's Hard cheese of old England. That was really the end of the first rotation, but when Steve arrived a little later his first song was Farmer's toast (roud 1603).

Colin's second song of the evening was The saucy Arethusa (* roud 12675), the words of which are attributes to Prince Hoare while the tune is Turlough O'Carolan's tune Miss MacDermott also used for The Princess Royal. The subject of the song is HMS Arethusa, originally a French frigate (Aréthuse) launched in 1757 and captured by the British in 1759. She remained in Royal Navy service for twenty years until she was wrecked off Ushant after being badly damaged in battle.

As it tradition on his first visit I will mention all of Gavin's songs although being self-penned they would have been mentioned anyway since they were all having their Dragon debut:

• I want to win the FA Cup (*# Gavin Ball)
• W G Grace (* Gavin Ball) - about the famous cricketer of that name
• Don't play with fire (* Gavin Ball) - A tribute to Fleur Lombard, a Bristol firefighter who lost her life dealing with an incident of arson
• Money was the reason (*# Gavin Ball)
• George Muller (*# Gavin Ball) - About Christian evangelist and director of Bristol's Ashley Down orphanage, George Müller
• Beard tax (* Gavin Ball) - about one of Peter the Great's bold and controversial attempts to civilise 18th century Russia.

Denny introduced us to the thoroughly English concept of A nice cup of tea (* Henry Sullivan, A P Herbert) while Colin took us across the pond for The night they drove old Dixie down (* Robbie Robertson) before sailing the seas with Tom Lewis for Recall.

I wonder whether it was Denny's singing of The Leezie Lindsay (roud 94, child 226 - Robert Burns) which includes the lines "For my name is Lord Ronald McDonald, a chieftain of high degree" that prompted Colin to dig out Carol McNelly's parody of Ralph McTell's Streets of London that is McDonald's kitchen (*)?

The last song of the evening was When all men sing (Keith Scowcroft, Derek Gifford) which came from Denny, accompanied by all present.

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

(Number of people present - 6 of whom 6 performed)

Blood and Roses

(Photo: webentwicklerin)

Last week's Dragon Folk Club session continued the trend of eclectic songs and of meeting new and old friends. Notably, we saw the return to the club of old friend Roger who came with occasional visitor John. Roger said he would try to persuade his wife Chris along next time; it would be excellent to see and hear Chris again. We also had an unexpected and welcome visitor, but more of her later.

Your scribe wasn't around at the very beginning of the session, so please forgive any slight inaccuracies. Denny started things off with Young Banker (roud 3321), which Paul followed with the Ballad of Cursed Anna (Jonathan Kelly).

Sue gave us (Haywire Mac) Harry McClintock's Big Rock Candy Mountain (roud 6969) and Bob sang Sweet Little Liza (Dick van Altena). The latter was the first new song of the evening for the Dragon database. As usual this doesn't mean it definitely hasn't been sung at the club before, but that it probably hasn't been recorded in this blog.

Colin's first of the evening was The Greenside Wakes Song (roud 4585). Not only is is new to the database, but nowhere to be found on YouTube (at least not as a song), and therefore it is not in the "a selection" playlist linked below. The only song of the evening which is missing.

John B fittingly gave us Sloop John B (roud 15634) with accompaniment from Roger and singing from all assembled. Meanwhile, Roger's turn brought Ralph McTell's Streets of London.

Simon completed the first round with Roger Whittaker's geographically inaccurate Durham Town. A boy sitting by the river in Durham would be by the River Wear and not the Tyne. How should South African Roger know?

Denny quickly picked up on that and made a pairing with The Water of Tyne (roud 1364), the third song new to the database that evening.

Paul also brought a new song to the party with Seven Virgins (roud 127), from the singing of Norma Waterson.

The new songs for the database were coming thick and fast when Bob sang The Last Ride, written by Robert Halcomb and Ted Daffan, and made famous by Hank Snow.

John had found a new song from Glacia Robinson in the form of Survivor.

Paul got us all singing along to Blood Red Roses (roud 931) which AL Lloyd suggested might be from the early 19th century, but the chorus at least of which Bert himself seems to have brought in possibly with some standard shanty verses.

Bob shook us all up with I knew the bride when she used to rock'n'roll (Nick Lowe) - another new song to the database.

Paul revisited his rendition of Alex Glasgow's Close the Coalhouse Door from the previous week for Bob's benefit since he had been absent.

John was Knockin' on Heaven's Door, but not with the straight Bob Dylan version, rather with words by Ted Christopher relating to the 1996 Dunblane Massacre where in an incident unusual in the UK 16 pupils and one teacher were killed and 15 were injured at a primary school. The man with the gun also shot himself dead. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history. It resulted in the private ownership of most handguns within Great Britain being made illegal with few exceptions.

It was Denny who introduced us to A Mon Like Thee which was written by Edmund Hill from St Helens in Merseyside, formerly Lancashire.

It was around about this time that the door opened and there stood Allie, a pub regular who some of us have come to know in passing and have regularly encouraged to join us for the singing. She declared that she had been standing outside the door for some time and was enjoying the music. We tried again to encourage her to enter and while she did not, she stood on the threshold and sang a creditable performance of Here Come the Navvies, written by Ian Campbell. I hope we see and hear more of Allie in the future. She was about to head into singing the Lincolnshire Poacher (roud 299, laws L14), but in the end disappeared off down the corridor.

The last "new" song of the evening was John's singing of Farewell Angelina (Bob Dylan) before Simon brought the session to a close with 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 9 performed)