It was a slow start as we chatted quite a bit because there weren’t many of us, while Roger tinkered with a tune but then we asked Stuart and Delia to lead a tune.
1. Stuart obliged, first with the music and then, more successfully, without the dots.
2. Innocent Hare from Dick
3. Having swapped seats with Stuart to be on the right side, which was in fact the right side, Delia announced that she’d got her concertina the right way up AND the right way round. They played, and very nice it was too, especially the last 3 notes, no actually most of it. It was Swindon by Archie Dag. Archie was a shepherd in Northumberland, best known for Elsie’s Waltz, and he was eventually retired to Swindon, but as Stuart said, you feel relief when you discover it was Swindon in Northumberland.
4. When He Comes by Holly Golightly and
5. Sally Sings Blues both performed by the August List
6. Home Boys Home sung by Glen and the chorus joined in by Karen and everyone else eventually, once they’d learnt it.
A black Labrador then came looking for Alan
7. Tune by Roger, which he said was topical because it was Polish and called Varsonvina, and Karen related how her college Jagoda would have been on the Polish plane crash if her passport had been in order. Fortunately it wasn’t and she was therefore unable to accompany her father (former president / royal family) who unfortunately died along with all the other important Polish people.
8. Dimming of the Day, which seemed to go down well, by Karen accompanied by Roger’s lovely playing, though Roger was on the wrong side.
9. Martin sang From 4 till Late by the late and murdered Robert Johnson – all because of a women apparently, though from what Martin told us I think it was womaniser Robert Johnson’s fault. A line from the song illuminates what I’ve just said – “A women is like a dresser, some man is always rambling through her drawers” – Well, what sort of man does that make Robert when he writes lines like that! But as usual the halo effect kicks in and we forgive anyone with a positive specialism for all their other faults or ignore the negatives in them.
10. Morris tune - Simon sang about red sky in “Shepherd’s Hay”. Roger related Eccles & other Goons conversation – imagine Eccles little voice now: “I’m a spy.” “Well why are you doing dressed up as a shepherd? I’m a Sherderd spy”
11. Rat-a- tap-tap by Dick Frost with quite a lot of tapping from others.
12. Delia sang “Messing About On the River” which everyone seemed to know, sung by John McCrae (but not our John McCrae) in1962 written by Lee Reed not Lou Reed.
13. Stuart – “On the 14th November” = about the French.
14. The Dancer by P J Harvey – excellent song sung by Kerralieggh
15. Rich Wife Full of happiness” (sounds good to me) by Bonnie Prince Billie, sung by Martin. Someone accused Martin and Kerraleigh (the August List) of making up a lot of names.
16. Glen announced that she’s never ironed a man’s shirt in her life! Then sang Geoff Wesley’s “Weatherman” which was very funny and well appreciated (note my move into modern common parlance).
17. Roger than attracted our attention by saying “Getting back to sheep ….” A wether, Roger informed us, is a castrated ram. He then played a tune, Canal in April, as I chose to call it. Martin then announced that his son-in-law is a sheep farmer in Broadwood Kelly near Winkley, who, as some of our attendees knew, was also famous for cider and solid fuel stoves. Roger then informed us that the Welsh have started wearing kilts because the sheep have got used to the sound of zips, at which point Simon suggested playing the RAM bling sailor and Glen mentioned LAMBert or was it LAMBent.
18. Martin then nearly knocked his beer over, then his guitar strap fell off the button end of his guitar and when he re-attached it the top end fell off, but he then managed to give us the lovely Falling Softly which was from a film about an Irish busker called Once. The song was by Glen Hansford and Marquita Irgovia. Then somehow that led to information that Hull University had a Sheep Appreciation Society which involved going to pet sheep and then going to the pub.
19. Simon – lively Moll on the Wad (tobacco)
20. John sang the 2 lines he knew of Sean the Sheep then “My Husband’s Got No Porridge In Him”
21. Dick – Let Union Be
22. Sean South tune by Delia and Stuart – which went very well and was not about a sheep as far as I know.
23. August List did Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis
24. Glen sang Kitty Bawn O’Brien
25. Karen was going to sing Searching For Lambs but there wasn’t time for 2, so opted for the more upbeat This Old Town
26. Live This Life by Simon, and I guess that’s what we all should do
27. John finished the evening with the monumental “Walk the Iron Road” written about someone’s Grandfather, which John learnt from Artisan – who are on the road again.

A very pleasant evening!