As happened last year, the Barn was in use as a poling station for the local elections so, again, we had kind permission to sing next door in the church with its lovely acoustic and magnificently painted ceiling. Not completely distracted by gazing upwards, a large group of songsters gathered to enjoy songs from our repertoire old and new. After some brief notices about future events we started our singing with a selection of Maytime songs - "It is the First of May", "Hal n Tow" and "The Cuckoo" (for which an additional verse was offered and may be included in the future). Emily then proposed a few songs not sung by us for a while - "Rolling in the Dew" and "Drink me Brave Boys" from the original song workshops ten years ago, followed by the gentle and poignant "Home Lads Home" and "Loyal Lover" from the many songs added since.
After the break with time to chat and appreciate our ornate surroundings, we resumed with a lovely round "As Me I Walked in a May Morning ..." skilfully directed by Emily building it into 4 parts by the time we finished. In complete contrast we moved on to a song first introduced at a Worthing session in March 2020, and occasionally aired since at the Chichester local group where it has been liked by all -"Three Drunken Maidens", led by Alan. Singers familiar with it joined in and the tune was readily picked up by others. So having been met with general approval it was agreed to put it on the 'Other Songs to Try' page of the SDFS Blog for others to enjoy. Last but very much not least, we spent time revisiting the harmonies of "The Oak Tree" song under Emily's guidance until uniting in a beautiful three part rendition of this lovely song.
A rewarding and fitting finish to our evening of singing in the church. We'll be back in the beautiful Barn for our next session on June 6th - see you there.
H.
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