22nd March 2016

Great night on Tuesday. Voices, mandolin, guitars, pipes (Spanish gaita in D, Swedish sackpipa, Anglo-French small pipes), accordion, recorder. Plus three welcome audience members; Isobel, Susan and friend.
Tunes were: Angus on mandolin led polkas: 'Egan's', 'Ryan's'; David on small pipes offered 'Mr Preston's Hornpipe' and on sackpipa 'Brudmarch' (Wedding March) and 'Efter Nedegards Lars'; Kevin on gaita, a Catalonian tune and Tom Bigby's Waltz and later 'Believe me if all Those Endearing Young Charms,' 'I'm awa Young to Marry Yet' and 'Frisky,' then another Catalonian tune plus 'Pass Calles,' (Asturian) and 'Highland Laddie (Northumbrian); Dave on guitar gave us some rocking Irish jigs; 'To the Wedding,' 'Hogmanay' and 'Lemonville'; James on accordion two airs and a reel, 'Lonesome Eyes,' 'Sally Gardens,' 'Miss Monahan,' and, later, 'Sunset on Conachair' plus he led some lively tunes to play us out and Carole, a choice selection on recorder, 'Ivan Drever, 'Banks of the Ness,' 'The Ross Memorial Hospital,' 'Out on the Ocean' and 'The Merry Blacksmith.'
Songs were: Dave H. 'Me name is Delaney,' 'Farewell to the Haven' by Davy Steele (Battlefield Band) and Jez Lowe's 'Black Diamonds'; Katy sang, 'The Auld Hoose' by Caroline Lady Nairne (1766-1845) whose family were ardent Jacobites and a surprising number of well-known Jacobite songs such as 'Charlie is my darling' were written by her - note from Katy), 'The Miraculous Fish' (the text of 'this was first printed in 1636 when a whale beached itself on the Wirral though the tune is modern - Note from Katy) and Strath Erli; Miriam gave us Nick Jones' 'The Warlike Lads of Russia,' Bruce Mainland's 'The Penny Whistle,' and 'False Love'; Phil sang Archie Fisher's 'The Final Trawl,' Martin Wyndham Reeves', 'The Old Man of the Sea,' that old favourite, 'The Shelves of Herring' and 'The Parting Glass'; Carole was reminded by Angus of Archie Fisher's, 'Waltz into Winter' and also sang a Les Barker's wicked 'Me Husband's got no Porridge in Him' and Tom Paxton's 'Outward Bound'; Eliza did 'The Hern...' which Miriam suggested might be a Ricardian period Arthurian-romance-type tale in song - interesting - 'Twa Corbies' and 'The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun'; Angus rang the changes with a bluegrass style song, 'Up This Hill and Down,' 'The Summer Before the War,' and Claire Lynch's 'Be Ready to Sail'; Robbie, who once trained soldiers gave renderings of Harry Andrews' 'The Soldier,'  'One-Eyed Jack' from the Bellowhead songbook and 'Over the Hills and Far Away'; David threw in 'The Plains of Waterloo' Beth gave us 'Put Your Hand in Mine' by Emily Smith and 'The Recruited Collier.'
Thanks for contributions, all of which led, I hope, to a generally good time being had by all. Our next night is 26th April. Hope to see you there.

February 23rd 2016

Greetings. A slight technical hitch on the blog has delayed me a bit - not being the greatest at ironing them out. I put a few 'labels' on this month's blog settings in the hope of tempting a few more of you along to our once monthly gathering (fourth Tuesday). We are a sing around-cum-session, that is, we try our best to include both song and instrumental and encourage joining in with tunes wherever it works. The village has a caravan site and RockUK outdoor centre and we welcome any who bring their  voice/ instrument on holiday. Right; ad. over.
Small and select again this month. Much enjoyed the craic all the same. Kevin came down from Carlisle with his Swedish-cum-Galician pipes adapted by his own good self. David brought sackpipa and smallpipes and Phil and Angus accompanied some of their pipe tunes on guitar in addition to bringing a fine selection of songs with accompaniment. Robbie joined us, though without his Strawhead song book (or strictly speaking, without the one borrowed from Carole) on this occasion.
Kevin started off proceedings with 'Morfa Rhuddlan' and later gave us an Asturian melody, 'Batri Bam' as well as Northumbrian tunes from the Peacock manuscript which were suitable for playing on this instrument (see above), 'Highland Laddie,' 'Frisky,' 'I'm Awa Young to Marry Yet' and 'Paddy Whack' as well as 'Bolero de Santa Maria' from Majorca. David's tunes were one on sackpipa (title not recorded by me) and on small pipes,  'Herd on the Hill,' 'Holmes' Fancy, 'The Lowland Dance,' 'Up wi' Eli Early,' 'Never Love Thee More' and 'Fourpence-halfpenny-farthing.'
Phil sang 'Peggy Gordon', 'John o' Dreams,' 'The Dawning of the Day,' 'The Road to Drumleman' by Willie Mitchell, the butcher of Campbeltown, and Tony Cuffe collected by Hamish Henderson and the excellent, 'The Bluest Little River Between the Tyne and Tees' by Alan Clarke. Angus sang the evocative, 'The Summer Before the War' by Connie Dover, 'Song for Ireland' by Phil and June Colclough, Alex Glasgow's 'When God Created Englishmen,' Eric Boswell's 'Take me up the Tyne in a Little Boat' and Tom Paxton's 'I Will Love You.' A grand selection.
Interspersed with tunes David sang 'The Horn of the Hunter' and 'The Rambling Soldier' in honour of Robbie. Eliza sang a version of 'The Bunch of Thyme,' 'Lads o' the Fair' by Bryan McNeill, the ballad 'Mill o' Tifty's Annie,' Robin Williamson's 'The Road the Gypsies Go' and 'Mallie-O.'
Generally a good night. Hope to see you next month.

26th January 2016

Rain didn't quite stop play. Flooding on the Kielder road and possible flooding between Carlisle, Brampton or Hawick and Newcastleton made some journeys dicey.  The intrepid duo, Phil and Angus, from just south of The Wall navigated the back way from Greenhead. Robbie joined us for a couple of soldiering songs and there followed an evening of congenial company (for us anyway), grand songs and tunes and snippets of folksong lore and biology (otters, rampaging dragon flies, caddis fly larvae) washed down with Peter's finest ale.
David was armed with three sets of pipes; English small, French and Swedish, almost equalling the number of the company present, and with a couple of guitars and a silent bodhran we were ready for anything.
Angus produced a fine variety songs from Tyneside and further afield, ranging from Johnny Handle's Danny's (about a famous club) and Alex Glasgow's 'When I was a Little Lad,' to, 'I'm Glad i'm Working Down Below' by John M. Garrett who wrote a book on British Music Hall songs. Angus also sang, 'Flowers,' as sung by Iain Mackintosh and a medley of 'The Waters of Tyne' and 'Weel May the Keel Row' and 'Roses from the Wrong Man' by Christine Lavin' and also, Harvey Andrews' 'First you lose the Rhyming.' Good songs sung in fine voice and accompanied on guitar.
Phil, reminded by Angus, gave us another Alex Glasgow, 'Hard Times at the Mill.' He was prompted by Robbie's interest in soldiering songs to sing, 'Jock McGraw o' the Forty-Twa' from the singing of Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor of the 'White Heather Club,' on the BBC, fondly remembered from childhood and 'The Galliards.' He also gave us 'Lord Huntley' as sung Bob Axford and Rosemary Hardman and finished with Ewan McVicar's 'All the Tunes in the World' - a fitting last song. All smashin', as they say over the border.
Robbie's were both collected by his current favourite, Strawhead, 'The Recruiting Officer' or 'The Merry Volunteers' (depending on your point of view), the Queen Anne version and 'The cannons are roaring,' an English Civil War song.
In between tunes David sang 'The Fellows that Follow the Plough' and Eliza tried out 'Get up and Bar the Door' to the tune of 'The Quaker's Wife' with Ewan McColl's refrain and offered a Tyneside, 'Dol-li-a,' a round, 'Rose, Rose, Rose Rose' and in honour of Burn's Night just past, 'Dainty Davie,' the bawdy version which the lads didn't think particularly ribald at all. I have seen the odd other verse, not necessarily Burns' which might have raised an eyebrow.
David's tunes were on French G pipes, 'Mundess,' on English small pipes, 'Last Night I Lay wi' Jacky in me Arms' and 'Apprentice Lads of Alnwick' - not the same ones as those who used to frequent the 'Birdcage' of former fame and glory. On sackpipa, 'Liten Lek' and 'Pols Fr Roros' and, finally, on French pipes an Andro which is a 'turn' dance or circle dance where the joined hands also circle one way then reverse or turn.
Though we were few David and I certainly enjoyed the night. I hope our friends did, too.    Eliza

December 22nd 2015

What a feast of tunes as well as songs and carols, seasonal, celebratory, ritual and otherwise for our festive gathering. We were joined by Robert and his fantastic fiddling for the first time; normally at choir practice on a Tuesday, we benefited from the holiday on this occasion. Miriam, back from Leicester, and Beth from Germany gave us the benefit of their singing and Kevin swelled the musician's contingent on bagpipes and concertina.
David opened on small pipes with 'Little Wee Winking Thing,' a curious title whether referring to a baby (Katy) or candle or other thing entirely. This was followed by Katy's Gascon carol, 'Pat-a-Pan,' Miriam's traditional English carol, 'Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day' and Ruth's dialect poem, 'Winter's Came.' Eliza sang a couple of wren hunting songs during the evening, the first, an Irish and the second a Welsh version. Some discussion of etymology and origin ensued (see comment - thanks in advance, Miriam).
Carole accompanied herself on guitar for her song 'The Island' about Westray and Robert burst in with Hector McAndrew's Kalianan Cottage, 'Bodaich Bheaga Abriachan' or 'The Little Old Men of Abriachan' and 'Loch Ness.' Kevin played three Spanish tunes on his adapted pipes with Spanish chanter on Swedish Sackpipa bag: 'La Amistad,' (friendship), 'Van Ness,' and 'Muineira.' Angus' first was Fairport Convention's 'The Summer Before the War' followed by David's 'Poverty Knock,' and Phil's rendering of Les Barker's much relished, 'Oh the Hard Cheese of Old England.' Returning to the seasonal were Katy's 'Time to Remember the Poor' or 'Cold Winter is Come,' an evocative traditional song and Ruth's 'The Shepherds' a setting of an early poem by William Morris, then Carole's 'When Winter comes Howling in' and Eliza's 'Gower Wassail.' Miriam gave us, 'Let no Man Steal Your Thyme,' David, the sea shanty 'Sailing Over the Dogger Bank ,' Angus took us to Whitley Bay with Aggie and Joe (sorry didn't note the title of this one) and Phil, 'Indiana' by Andy Mitchell and sung by the band, 'Patrick street.'
Tunes were from James on accordion 'The Sally Gardens' and 'The ? Behind,' Robert, with general joining in, 'The Pinch of Snuff' and Kevin on concertina with Matt Seattle's 'Lindisfarne' and the tune for the pantomime figure, Morgiana (in Spain).
Katy and Miriam duetted on 'O Come O come Emmanuel' and Beth sang, 'The Galway Shawl' and 'Ye Jacobites by Name,' a traditional song, rewritten by Robert Burns. Carole lightened the mood with 'The Rottenstall Annual Fair and Angus with, 'Higher Education' by Norman Turnbull.
Tunes during the latter part of the evening were James' 'Gaster's Dream' (and another one, unknown), the strathspey, 'Captain Carswell' and 'Inverness.' Robert continued with 'The Rushmore Downpour,'and 'We'll Make Charlie Wear the Crown' and David with 'Low Country Dance' and 'Up wi' Eli Early.' Kevin further mined the Spanish seam with two regional tunes; a Catalan and an Asturian Melody and Carole gave us four tunes on recorder: 'Bonny Nancy', 'Ireland, I dare not speak your name,' 'Tweedside' and 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.' Robert and Kevin played together on fiddle and concertina for 'Crested Hen,' 'Saddle the Pony' and 'Blackthorn Stick.' The musicians rounded off the night with polkas and Northumbrian tunes led by James and then Angus.
Beth gave the finish a fitting flourish with 'Stille Nacht.' Thanks for your contributions everyone.
January's date is the 26th. Hope to see you there.

24th November 2015

Great to see Frank and Corrie with several instruments between them and also our local singer-instrumentalist, Rod, who slipped in quietly, tuned his guitar and gave us the pleasure of his company while his guitar sat there smug in the knowledge that it was in tune...job done for the night (which was fine). Also welcome back Ruth. Also good to see our other regulars including Carole who is becoming one of them. And long may it last.
So to business. Upstairs is grand and the large table set up with everyone sitting round is generally convivial and friendly. Good tunes from various sources and occasionally Europe on accordions (I think, though not the 'piano' variety), pipes, fiddle, recorder, whistle and guitars.
Frank and Corrie opened and closed the session, starting with two Northumbrian song tunes, 'Up the Raa' and 'Footy against the Wall' and 'La Sansonette, 'a Scottische from France on accordion and pipes. They later played an English Playford tune, 'Kettledrum,' then 'The Far Away Waltz' on box and fiddle, followed by 'The Woody Cock' on box and wooden recorder and later the Playford tune, 'Jenny Pluck Pears,' again on box and wooden recorder. Other numbers were on box and pipes; a Morris dance tune from Oxfordshire, 'The Old Drove Road,'and 'The Laird of Drumblair,' a strathspey. Angus played a couple of sets of tunes on mandolin with the musicians joining in. These were 'Winster Gallop,' 'Jaimie Allen' and 'Salmon Tails' and later, the polka set which includes 'John Ryan's' and 'Egan's' (I think). David played 'Lassie gae Milk on Cow Hill' on small pipes.
Katy began a military theme with Tennyson's 'The Charge of the Light Brigade,' arranged for singing. Robbie, a former soldier, sang his military songs, Strawhead's 'One-Eyed Jack' and 'Over the Hills.' These, perhaps, triggered (unintentional pun) Phil's later 'Brave General Wolfe.'
Carole accompanied herself on guitar for Jez Lowe's, Yankee Boots and her own piece drawing on John Masefield's 'Sea Fever' as well as Stan Rogers,' 'The Lock Keeper' and Ian Tyson's, 'Four Strong Winds.' Angus also did a Stan Rogers, 'Tiny Fish for Japan,' and Cyril Tawney's 'Chicken on a Raft,' a good chorus number (if you can keep up). Ruth was well equipped with 'The New Nation Song Book' and the odd separately published song score. She sang 'Blow, Blow thou Winter Wynd' from Shakespeare's 'As You Like It.' Also 'Smoke Gets in your Eyes' (we benefited from the 'fire' theme at Brampton Folk Club - The Howard Arms - 3rd Tuesday) and 'The Nightingale. Also on the theme of 'fire' was Dawn's 'Fires of Ninety Eight' by John Warner. Dawn also sang 'The Last of the Widows,' and Davey Steele and John McCusker's 'Last Trip Home,' more of her evocative repertoire.
Corrie sang Sir Walter Scott's lovely Jock o' Hazeldean. As well as the aforementioned, Phil gave us 'The Donnybristle Mossmoran Mining Disaster,' and 'Cloudberry Day.' As discussed, there was a time when people here would pick yellow cloudberries, native to the arctic tundra, boreal forests and Newcastleton (and Northumbrian and other) fells. Apparently they are much sought after in Norway. Katy set off a deal of harmonising with her rousing, 'All the Good Times Are Past and Gone,' by Bobby Bare and later gave us the beautiful 'Three King's Sons; an Ode to the Sacred City' a Sinhalese Buddhist piece (partly as a riposte to Carole's comment about religious songs - let no one say we don't throw in a bit of religion and politics on folk nights).
Eliza, influenced by the season (though not the month) sang the 'The Month of January.' She later followed with 'The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry,' and 'The Lament of The Lass of Loch Royale' and Steven Schwartz' 'The Road the Gypsies Go.' David's songs were, 'The Lincolnshire Poacher,' Mike Harding's, 'King Cotton' and 'Roving Navvy' by Ian Woods.
I certainly enjoyed the night once again and look forward to our pre-Christmas night on the 22nd of December. Hope to see you there. Bring whatever songs and tunes you like; festive, seasonal or whatever takes your fancy, floats your boat etc. Eliza

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

September 22nd, 2015

What a grand, champion, smashing' (north-eastern credentials sneaking out here) time we had last night (well I did, anyway). It was great to welcome Dave back and Meg and, for the first time, (drum roll) Rod was roused to cross the Square from the other side of the road through the village. Their presence and contributions were much appreciated. We were endowed with seven guitarists (Meg, Dave, Carol, Phil, Rod, Angus, and Steve) a recorder (Carol), a whistle (David) a bodhran (Rod) player, and a smallpiper (as opposed to small piper) (David), many voices and a partridge... Amongst her offerings, Carol sang one of her own... and the company boasts at least two other lyricists. I recorded the session on a new digital recorder, something i'll do randomly once every few months or so. Not sure how this will have turned out as last time it was done by an expert (thanks Kevin) but hope to upload songs and photos during the next week or so once I get my head round editing etc (which Kevin did last time). Watch this space.
To business. Eliza kicked off with Robin Williamson's version of 'The Raggle-Taggle Gypsies.' Sad (in my view) that being on the road in Britain belongs more or less to a romantic past (obviously not romantic if you actually live/ lived it). She later followed this up with Williamson's own 'The Road the Gypsies Go.'
There were a couple of emigrant/stranger songs, perhaps brought on by the refugee crisis. It was good to see Steve again with his topical 'Isle of Hope' by Brendan Graham about Ellis Island, passed through by emigrants from Ireland (and elsewhere) in the process of gaining entry to America. Dave did the 'Banks of the Bann,' a nineteenth century song about Delaney who probably moved from one part of Ireland to another (County Meath to Ulster?) as a result of too much drinking and sporting - so not really emigrant but he did arrive as a 'stranger'. Drunken and nutting maidens were also in evidence in Dave's bawdy 'Three Drunken Maidens' (with Rod on bodhran) and David's 'Nutting Girl' (and as he pointed out, summer is an odd season for hazelnuts).
David and Angus did starting work and Monday Morning Songs, 'The Little Piecer' and Cyril Tawney's 'On a Monday Morning' respectively. (Others by Tawney were 'Jack Tar on Shore' sung by Phil and 'Farewell to Kingsbridge' contributed by Katy). Other work songs were 'The 'Chiner's,' a steam threshing machine song (Shirley Collins' version) from Eliza, 'The Carver' by sung by David and 'The Right Side of the Footplate,' a Tony Williams song sung by Dave. Songs of heartbreak and relationships included Angus' Annie McElvie and his 'You Can't Stay Here' by Stan Rogers, Carol's 'A Heart Needs a Home' by Richard Thompson and, perhaps, Steve's 'Gentle Annie' written by Stephen Foster, Steve thinks for and about his mother. There were a couple of ballads; Katy's rendering of the Child Ballad, 'The Brown Girl' in Frankie Armstrong style and Eliza's 'Reynardine.'
Meg, who runs a club at 'The Railway' at Fourstones did some stunning renderings; of Mary Black's 'Bright Blue Rose,' John Prine's powerful, 'Angel from Montgomery' as well as her arrangement of Loretta Lynn's 'Coal Miner's Daughter' in a strong country bluesy style (I hope i've got this one right) and a rocking 'Two More Bottles of Wine' by Emmy Lou Harris.'
A strand that developed linking some of the songs was socialism/social justice versus fat cats. Carol set it going with Jim King's, 'Little Posh Kids' eerily resonant of recent revelations about the antics of a certain 'esteemed' leader and his cohort. Steve did Ray Hearne's haunting 'Calling Jo Hill' and Phil, 'A Socialist ABC' by Alex Glasgow.
Robbie borrowed Carol's copy of Strawhead's song book and found a trio of songs beginning with their version of 'Over the Hills,' now known at the Grapes as his personal signature song. He followed with 'The Fall of Babylon' and 'One Eyed Jack,' all rendered in his own inimitable style.
Carol and Phil did a couple of philosophical songs about time and change, Steve Tilson's 'Oil and Water' and 'Watch the Clock by 'Sam...' Eliza threw in a brief scrap of something longer from 'The Incredible String Band,' 'This Moment is Different' about seizing the moment. And (at the risk of sounding like someone compiling a book on songs with subheadings...well actually not being able to resist doing so) there were handful of comic songs, too; Katy's 'Granny Frazer's Flittin,' Rod's 'A Yorkshire Couple' and  'The Vicar and the Frog' and Phil's, 'It Went All Right at Home.'
Carol's own song was the evocative, 'The slow train.' And Rod did one that began, 'If I were a...' which I obviously thought was memorable (for those who are compos mentis unlike me, obviously) because I haven't noted anything else. ('...Witch's Hat comes to mind...but there have been one too many Williamson/String Band references.) It was good - that's all I remember. Sorry Rod.
Tunes this time were Dave's 'Merry Blacksmith' with guitar and bodhran accompaniment, David's 'Little Wee Winking Thing' (not recorded), 'Bobbing Joan,' and 'Cherry Garden' on small pipes and, to finish, some tunes led by Carol on recorder and then various people with Dave, Phil Angus and Rod on guitar, David on whistle. These included 'Bonny Nancy' on recorder and 'Harvest Home' and 'Midnight on the Water' on whistle.