Emily led us through a list of songs proposed for the session that had been shared with singers before our gathering; this advance notice was generally appreciated. Without any public performances due in the very near future the list was free of any specific event related 'song set' to rehearse, and gave us time to sing a song or two from our extensive SDFS collection which deserve more attention, revival and then future use. It also gave us a chance to look beyond the grey end of winter skies and sing about brighter seasons ahead.
We began with "The Cuckoo". We now include the fourth verse, rather than just repeat the first to finish with as we used to do. Emily offered a fifth verse to finish the song in cheerful mood; we look forward to hearing it again at a future session and to adding it to this otherwise 'trad' song. We continued with "Ebernoe Horn Fair"- earlier than its usual summer airing, but to revive it in good time after having not sung it for a while. Emily congratulated the few men present for the quality of their singing in this conversation song - with the women's voices making a strong response, as the narrative requires! Using the Copper family's version of the lyrics we sang "The Lark in the Morning" with, as ever, some comments about the words, including whether or not larks rise or fly from their nests! Next was the majestic sound of "The Oak Tree" song, enjoyed by all, as were the gentle tones of "Searching For Lambs" before, by contrast, "Three Drunken Maidens" picked up the pace, and "England for Me" carried us to a break after brief repetition of a few lines to correct and confirm the scanning.
As well as chats and quaffing, the break gave time to consider plans for our public events this year (plus the SDFS private social "Springtime Revels" on April 11th). Sign-up sheets listing our draft programme for 2026 were available for singers to make their choices and volunteer to sing out. (All the proposed events are listed on the Diary Dates page of this Blog - and singers from all three of our local groups are invited to let us know if they'd like to sing at any of them - and also, if they'd like to attend our "Revels" on April 11th - RSVP asap!)
Amaryllis brought a new song to us, "The Lost Lover", with lyrics written by her to the tune of "The Cruel Mother", but relating a less tragic tale. This was welcomed but it also prompted some humour in response to the rendition of a line reporting the lost lover had "gone up north". This humour reminded Emily of other songs which have intentionally raised a smile - primarily the witty "Three Moles" song written by Gordon from our Chichester group. She hoped Gordon would be present to entertain us with it at our Revels social evening - and it was also suggested that we should all learn and use it as a SDFS group song.
From there we welcomed the coming seasons with "Summer is A'Comin' in Again", before trying a song new to many, if not most - "Love and the Ball". This lyric, from an old poem set to a tune by our own Alan W, tells of a couple teasingly competing with and for each other in the traditional Sussex game (and played elsewhere too) of stoolball. Alan introduced us to this song a while ago and it has been regularly sung in our Lewes group sessions but less so in Chichester - and not at all in the Worthing group. When reminded of it and then tried, with guidance from Alan and Emily, it was liked and we agreed to use it more. Discussion ensued about whether it should be sung in unison as a group or shared between male and female voices - to be tried again and concluded at future sessions. Description and discussion about stoolball itself prompted Emily to suggest we try a small scale soft ball version of it for fun at the Revels social in April - watch this space!
As we approached the close of the session, we sang "Come Stranger Come Friend" - and (although not in the SDFS' 'official' repertoire) followed this with a request for an old favourite, "Rolling Home", to finish. Thanks All - and we'll be back at the Barn on Thursday April 2nd.
H.
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