Song Lists for Fernhurst Furnace Day 2018

Update 13th September 2018: We will meet at 10.30am onwards as below, but most of our singing may now be in the quiet period at lunchtime (12.45-1.30pm) which will give us a better chance of being heard. Wear something comfortable – blue, cream, green and brown, with a cap or straw hat perhaps – but no blue jeans please!

Saturday 15th September 2018

We will sing as wandering minstrels intermittently from about 11.00am till 12.30pm, then a break for lunch, with more singing from 1.30pm till 3.00pm. Meet just after the entrance on the left at 10.30am.

More information on the Fernhurst Furnace website.

Set 1

1. Country Life
2. Ale, Glorious Ale
3. A Smuggler’s Song
4. Brisk Young Ploughboy
5. Fathom the Bowl
6. Hard Times of Old England
7. Jim the Carter Lad
8. Oak, Ash & Thorn
9. On Sussex Hills
10. Rolling in the Dew
11. Pleasant and Delightful

Set 2

1. West Sussex Drinking Song
2. The Turnip Hoer
3. The Magpie
4. The Lark in the Morning
5. The Nightingale
6. The Farmer’s Toast
7. Twanky Dillow
8. Life of a Man
9. The Woodcutter’s Song
10. Sussex by the Sea
11. Thousands or More

The Fields Lie Silent update

There have been a few small changes to the lyrics of this song, which can be downloaded from this post.

Local Group Report – Lewes – Tuesday 21st August 2018

One of the best ways to spend a summer evening is sitting in a pub (or its garden) with a glass of something long and cool in the company of folk who just love to sing. Two new female voices joined us because their Lewes choir is on holiday and they needed to exercise their vocal chords – hopefully, we filled the gap and they will return next month. Jonathan came back for a third session, so there were 14 of us. We must be improving because a couple from Essex and another diner stayed for the whole of the first half and borrowed word sheets so that they could join in.

We warmed up with Fathom The Bowl and The Turmut Hoer, before looking at songs that a small group will sing at Mac’s Alfriston Folk Club in October. The two sets will consist of Kipling songs and sea songs, so we sang Follow Me ’Ome, Constant Lovers, Oak Ash And Thorn and Pleasant And Delightful, before a refill break and then Brave Eleven, Littlehampton Collier Lads, My Boy Jack, Bee Boy’s Song, A Smuggler’s Song and They Won’t Let Us Go To Sea Anymore. Tina had prepared harmonies for ten of the songs, mostly a lower drone line which could be sung by either low or higher voices. Our songs sounded much richer with the variety added.

We agreed that next month we will aim to arrive at The John Harvey Tavern earlier and try and start singing by 7.30pm so that we don’t overrun past 10pm. Probably wishful planning, but we’ll try anything to get more singing time! We finished with Thousands or More.

Local Group Report – Chichester – Thursday 16th August 2018

Twenty three of us plus our good canine friends Buster and Stanley enjoyed a very jolly sing at the Chichester Inn on Thursday evening. We warmed up by singing Oak Ash & Thorn, the Bee-Boys Song and Pleasant and Delightful and then went on in the first half to sing many old favourites, including The Smugglers Song, On Sussex Hills, all four verses of the West Sussex Drinking Song, The Turnip Hoer and The Magpie. We were certainly singing very well as a choir and having a lot of fun too.

In the second half we tackled some new and less familiar songs, starting with Gordon’s humorous The Three Moles; Alan taught us to sing the beautiful winter song The Fields Lie Silent and Dave introduced us to a new song entitled One for the Rook which tells how the old ploughmen used to have to sow four seeds in order to ensure that at least one “lived to grow”. We finished the evening by bravely singing two verses of the Song of the Sussex Downsman and Keith managed to guide us through the tricky bits and keep us all on track. I really hope we eventually manage to learn this lovely song and sing it out.

Thanks to all of you who came to make this a very successful evening. Please be aware that next month we will meet on Thursday 20th September, but at The Three Moles Inn in Selham, near Graffham. See you there!

SDFS at 'The 1918 Lloyd George Garden Party', Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Update 3rd September 2018: Richard B has emailed John to thank us for our singing yesterday.

Dear John,

I wanted to thank you and all the South Downs Folk Singers for being here yesterday and adding so much to the unique occasion. We all loved it and thank you very much indeed.

Hope to see you all again soon.

Best wishes,

Richard

Update 27th August 2018: The timetable for the unveilling of the Lloyd George statue has been added.

Sunday 2nd September 2018
The afternoon's festivities celebrate Danny's association with the signing of the Armistice.

For those of you who like dressing up and formal dancing this is an added element to supporting this event which is part of the 'Hurst Festival' of which our further participation on the 16th September at the Hurstpierpoint 'Super Sunday' village day is also a component (details to follow).

You don't need to be in period costume or join in the dancing as it is ticketed and open to the general public. The usual blue & green apparel elements if possible, if you're not in costume. Seeing there is a 'Hot Rhythm' Orchestra, the tunes might migrate into the period up to WW2.

Arrive by 2.00pm with parking on site and entry by named list for the Singers taking part. Please email me on southdownsfolksingers@gmail.com by 29th August if you are coming.

We will sing, at appropriate intervals, songs from the Bateman's song sets (details to be confirmed and added) during the breaks in the dance programme and at other times, adjacent to or in the smaller refreshment marquees (depending on weather) and away from the large dance marquee where the Orchestras will not be amplified.

A statue of Lloyd George is to be unveiled at 2.40pm with the following timetable. Those Singers who did the extra practise evening with Emily and Amaryllis before Bateman's will sing MBJ.

Commencing 2.40pm:
My Boy Jack
Poem written and read by Danny resident Morgan Kenny
Thought and prayers by Rev’d Jane Willis
Speech and unveiling by Colin Prickett
LGB brass band play a hornpipe and any volunteers all try and dance the hornpipe like LLoyd George!

"Looking forward to seeing you all again. Richard Burrows."

John C.

The Fields Lie Silent: A New Song For Us

Update 23rd August 2018: A few small changes have been made to the lyrics. Use the link below to the pdf file to download these.
Q: How do I know I'm looking at the new version?
A: At the bottom of the lyrics page you will see "revised 23rd August 2018".

Here's a new song from Alan, The Fields Lie Silent, written by Colin Gates.

Use the links below to download mp3 and pdf files.

Recording with melody and harmony: Fields Lie Silent.mp3

Recording with melody only: Fields Lie Silent melody.mp3

Recording with harmony only: Fields Lie Silent harmony.mp3

Lyrics: Fields Lie Silent.pdf

Score - melody only: Fields_Lie_Silent score.pdf

Score - melody and harmony: Fields_Lie_Silent w harmony score.pdf

Local Group Report – Worthing – Wednesday 1st August 2018

We almost reached a record 50 with 48 singers gathering at YOHAH for this month’s session. Nattering and notices kicked off proceedings and a shortlist of the songs we are due to use at Bateman’s was agreed for the evening’s Sing. So, with the volume turned up by the number of voices present, we sang through and polished The Bee Boy’s Song, All Things are Quite Silent, Follow Me ’Ome and Home Lads, Home. A small group then presented My Boy Jack, as planned at last month’s session, which was duly approved. A refreshment break (with a longer queue than usual at the bar!) took up some time before we resumed with work on a medley of wartime songs that could be added to our performance on Sunday (tbc on the day). None strictly South Downs songs but doubtless known, sung and made their own by all who became comrades in the Great War. A verse or chorus each from Keep the Home Fires Burning, It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and Pack up your Troubles were sung through and then shared between us to weave them together into the medley. We finished our singing with a rousing Thousands or More before the gathered crowd dispersed, with thanks again to Emily and all.

SDFS & Secret Shore Singers At Arundel Festival Sunday 19th August 2018

Flying Turmuts and Ahoy Landlubbers!

As Arundel was the original port, not Littlehampton, in combination we will be representing both aspects of its past in our song sets.

The SSS commence our contribution to the day at 1.00pm outside The Swan P.H. for perhaps 35 minutes as we have until 2.00pm before the Silver Band set up.

The SDFS  will do a short 'warm up' session in Tarrant Street outside the Nineveh Chapel as last year from around 2.35 till 2.50pm, and then decamp to the Town Square to do the 3.00 to 3.30pm song set.

The SSS will then sing a set outside The Swan again from 4.30pm for say 35 minutes.

Given the experience of the Littlehampton Waterfront Festival, provisions are being requested to relocate sets inside The Swan and possibly also the Norfolk Arms Hotel in the event of inclement conditions.

Please gather for each respective set at least 15 minutes before the start time.

As there will be a mix of both groups of singers, come dressed as you feel appropriate, and there may also be acolytes from Emily's Family Singing Workshop in the parish church the previous day between 10.00am and 12.00 noon on a couple of songs.

I'll be street parking on the Ford Road side of the town on Torton Hill as usual and walking in under the A27 bridge and via The Slipe and Tarrant Street which takes about 10 minutes as parking is at a premium unless you arrive early in the town.

Please email John for the SDFS if you are coming and Emily for the SSS and copy John in to help co-ordination.

Contact mobile for the day is J.C. 07542 167828


SSS Song Sets are the same as for the LWF:

Set 1

1. John Kanaka
2. Sweet Ladies of Plymouth
3. Littlehampton Colliers
4. Pleasant and Delightful
5. Leave Her Jonny (men on verses)
6. Here's a Health

Set 2

1. Roll the Old Chariot
2. High Barbaree
3. Roll Alabama
4. Rollin' Down To Old Maui
5. Mingulay Boat song

Set 3

1. Haul Away Joe
2. Our Jack Comes Home
3. Spanish Ladies
4. They Won't Let Us Go To Sea Anymore
5. A Rovin'

And SDFS will be a selection from the Bateman's two sets.
As always fingers crossed for good weather.

John C

New Song Workshops For The Autumn

From Chris Hare we have news of a series of free song workshops to be held in Worthing and Rusper (near Horsham), starting in the autumn. The songs taught will be a mix of those written by Hilaire Belloc and those collected by Lucy Broadwood. As with the previous Songs of the South Downs, and Secret Shore courses, the workshops will combine teaching of the songs with short talks about the life and works of Hilaire Belloc and Lucy Broadwood.

Full details are on the Belloc, Broadwood and Beyond website and also this flyer (pdf file download).

You may also like to visit the Hilaire Belloc Society website.