We welcomed John the Norfolk Trucker via his for-one-night-only abode - the Handy Cross layby. John had come a few times before but I’d only remembered his visit to The Pegasus. However, within a few words of Bill Caddick’s lovely Dream Factory, both Rosie and I pictured his previous visit to The Old Ship.

It was great to see Dave and Norma again, especially with Norma looking so well, winning the raffle and choosing the wine now that she’s allowed to drink again! Dave now has a Morgan trilogy: Sticks/Swim/Run and played them as a set for us.

I'm sure everyone will agree that the stand-out moment of the evening was the world-premier of Fred’s original song, My Alpaca. The lyrics are below (reproduced with Fred’s permission).

My Alpaca Chorus: My Alpaca, He’s no slacker He chews coca and tobacco He's so truly soft and woolly That it keeps him warm at nights; He’s a cracker, my Alpaca And he’s useful in a fracas And he’s handy in the Andes ‘Cause he’s such a head for heights! I’d much sooner An Alpaca than Vicuna; It would not make me calmer If I were fobbed off with a llama! Chorus I would be a silly billy If I were journeying in Chile Not to make use of such a creature -That’s the lesson I would teach ya! Chorus It's a thing that does console us That we know how to throw a bolas There are no fences now to cramp us As we wander round the pampas Chorus Around the campfire eating nachos And sipping lovely cool gazpachos We hear the stories of the sideshows From the garrulous old gauchos Chorus

Other items of note from the evening were:

• Down the Can – a new original song from Kerraleigh and Martin
• Izzy demonstrating why her name has two z’s in it after she’d played a nice jig in Am
• One Year Later (and one jig faster) from Douggie
• Three bird songs from Stuart and Delia (Blackbird, Crow, Chicken)
• The very short Good King Arthur’s Pudding from Ian
• A couple of Germanic-sounding (at least to me) but English polkas called (I think) Walter Balwer’s 1+2 from Paul
• A solo David F and his version of The Everly Brothers’ Take a Message To Mary
• Rosie and I were there too…

My apologies to the young woman in green who may well have wanted to sing, but left before I managed to ask her to.

We’re at the Dog & Badger next week. I’ll try hard to ensure that everyone who might want to join in gets the chance.