October 27th 2015

Oh ye. Oh ye. The unanimous verdict was that our first time upstairs (in the larger room rather than the lounge downstairs) at the Grapes was a grand do. Acoustics are good and the beamed barn look as well as sitting round a long table worked well from all points of view. And what a turn-out to inaugurate the new room for the club, the ranks being swelled by the annual visit of an extended family, normally variously located in Sunderland, Manchester and London with their folk harmonies, fiddle and guitar to boot. Special mentions to Jed, Anna and Louis and appreciation goes to the grand voices of all and dancing by the smallest, some on the floor others in arms. It was great to have Mary (on accordion) and Larry (moral and liquid support) for the first time (though long-time participants in the festival) and to welcome again Carol H. (Guitar and voice) and Dave (dulcimer) and Carole B.(recorder, guitar and voice).
So, to business. There were lots of tunes this time with plenty of joining in - generally a good balance between tunes and songs. So i'll start with tunes. Jed started us off with a Swedish fiddle tune and later did 'Ashokan Farewell' composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 in the style of a Scotttish Lament for summer camps in the Catskill mountains in upstate New York. Mary played a variety of tunes in grand style on accordion, joined by Carol and Dave and also sometimes by Jed, Phil and Angus. She started with the bird set that she Carol and Dave have arranged: 'Eagle's Whistle,' 'Peacock's Feather' and 'The Cuckoo.' They followed with a set of jigs; 'Donnybrook Fair,' 'The Frost is all Over' and 'The Kesh Jig' and, later with 'Spillane Fiddle' and 'The Favourite' then 'Waves of Kilkee' and 'Around Loch Gill.' Dave played the lovely 'Fair and Charming Eileen O'Carroll,' on dulcimer. Angus produced his mandolin and gave us some Northumbrian tunes in G - 'Winster Gallop,' 'Salmon Tails' and 'Jimmy Allen,' with fiddle and guitar  and other instrumental accompaniment - and later a polka set; 'Egans' and 'John Ryan's.' He also played the wonderful 'Margaret's Waltz' composed by Pat Shuldham-Shaw and dedicated to Margaret Grant on her retirement from the English Folk Song and Dance Soc. David played some bourees on his French pipes plus 'Drops of Brandy,'  both the old and new versions. Carole (B.)  played 'The Rose of St. Magnus' written by Ivan Drever on recorder, an instrument we don't hear enough of. Apparently she has quite a collection of these.
Songs included choral settings, accompanied and unaccompanied singing and, as usual, a good mixture of the contemporary and traditional. Anna as folk-choir leader, marshalled her well-rehearsed group beginning with 'Hush Thee My Dove' or 'The Manx Lullaby' in harmony and later, 'Early One Morning,' and 'The Waters of Tyne.' Louis, a young guitarist and singer gave us Bob Dylan's, 'Don't Think Twice.' We are hoping for more from him as well as the choir during their next year's visit.
Katie  gave a fine rendering of the 1756 lyrics in Scots' dialect (or language) by Jean Elliot to 'The Floo'ers o' The Forest' a pipe tune commemorating the Scots' defeat at Flodden in 1513 about the grief of the women and children for the deaths in the battle. She later sang an excellent version of 'Sandy Bells' Man' and, appropriate to the season, 'The Light of Halloween.' Steve accompanied himself on guitar with, 'The Valley of Strathmore' and 'Isle of Hope' by Brendan Graham. There were some great chorus/ refrains from Carol (H.) who sang with the accordion and guitar, 'When I Mowed Pat Murphy's Meadow' and 'Sweet Forget me not' with the addition of fiddle and another guitar and, later, 'My Own Dear Galway Bay by Frank Fahy. She also sang to accompany Dave on the dulcimer with, 'Outside Track,' a poem by Henry Lawson set to music by Gerry Halson (?). Carol (B.) did Tom Paxton's 'Can't Help but Wonder Where I'm Bound' and 'Borderland' recorded by Archie Fisher and possibly written by him. David sang 'The Little Piecer' by Dave Brooks and later, 'Albert Berry' by Ted Edwards. Phil's offerings were 'Brough Hill Fair by Dorothey Una Radcliffe and Steve Tilston's wonderful 'Slip Jigs and Reels.' Dawn rang the changes with a sad song and a humorous one; 'So many Colours in the Rainbow' by Marie Little and 'The Corvette' respectively. Eliza offered Peter Bellamy's setting of Rudyard Kipling's poem, 'The Smugglers' and the halloween ballad, 'Tam Lin' (Duncan Williamson's Version)
There were some tunes to finish led by Mary. A good night was had by all, it seems. Thanks for coming. We meet again on the 24th of November (and there will also be a December meeting on 22nd). It would be great to see friends and newcomers.
Eliza