We met in our now regular venue, upstairs in The Lewes Arms, and despite less than pleasant weather conditions we had a good turn out with sixteen singers attending. Those numbers were boosted by two when one existing member brought a friend along to try us out and another was willingly ‘press ganged’. He had been in the bar downstairs, heard there was to be singing, came up to investigate and stayed all evening. We hope both those newcomers will become permanent members.
As we had new singers present, we started with a song we know well, “East Sussex Drinking Song”. Its intuitive tune allowed those who weren’t familiar with it to join in the chorus easily. Next was “My Downland Remembered” reflecting, what seems nowadays, the harsh punishment meted out to John Cuckney in 1833. There was discussion about the transportation of such offenders to Australia, and to what was then known as Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania. One of our number told us that whilst there are blackbirds in Tasmania, they are not native to that land and it is thought that they were brought from Europe by those being transported there, perhaps as pets, and subsequently released into the wild.
We recognised this period of Remembrance with the equally reflective and emotional “Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsun” and “My Boy Jack” before moving on to a pair of more cheery Christmas songs which were new to many of us: “The Field Mouse Carol” and “Friendly Beasts”. We spent a little extra time on these ensuring that we had grasped the melodies correctly, singing some joyous harmonies on the former and paying attention to the change of pace in the middle verses of the latter.
After a short break, we commenced again with “Stir Up Sunday” and, sung as a round, it worked very well because of the number of singers present, and each part was equally and clearly voiced. Our last Remembrance song for the year was “Follow Me ‘Ome” with its poignant lament for the loss of a comrade in arms although coupled with faux Cockney lyrics which might be seen as a product of an implausible alliance between Rudyard Kipling and Dick Van Dyke.
Continuing with the Christmas theme was “The Ditchling Carol” (“Be Merry All”). The contrast between its jolly chorus and its dismal minor key verses was noted together with the observation that, though it was written over 200 years ago, the plight of the poor at Christmas remains much the same. Next, we went a-wassailing with “Wassail the Silver Apple”, “Apple Tree Wassailing Song” and “Sugar (Sussex) Wassail” which we hope we may have the opportunity to sing at a wassail early next year.
We then looked forward to the return of finer weather with “Summer is a-Coming in Again” before our usual final (and with 16 singers, particularly rousing) rendition of “Thousands or More” reminding us that money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness.
Ray
