Clayton Windmills

Here are two photos which were sent to John C for our collection.

Jill Windmill in the foreground with Jack behind
photo courtesy of David Meares of the Jack & Jill Windmills Society

Jill Windmill
photo courtesy of Simon Potter of the Jack & Jill Windmills Society

There's more information about the Clayton Windmills on the website of the Jack & Jill Windmills Society at www.jillwindmill.org.uk

The Brighton Pub Carols 2014

The SDFS were in evidence at all three Brighton Pub Carols sessions again this year – especially on Tuesday 23rd when, at The Park Crescent pub in Brighton, seven of us sang our hearts out for three hours!

Here's the evidence:

At the back: me, Cat, Margaret and Mac
In front: Tina, Judy (hiding!) and John

Here's a more composed shot – though Mac and Margaret had left by then ....

Here's to next year!  What a blast ....

Adrian F

Some New Old Songs

Stephen A came along to the last Easebourne session with some new material and has now kindly provided files for three songs (The Saucy Sailor Boy, The Young Recruit and Valiants All) so that we can have a go at singing them ourselves. For each song we have a doc file with the words, a PDF file with the score and a MIDI file to play.

Here are the links to Stephen's files:

The Saucy Sailor Boy	doc file	PDF file	MIDI file
The Young Recruit	doc file	PDF file	MIDI file
Valiants All	doc file	PDF file	MIDI file

Here are some additional notes provided by Stephen:

In 1911 and 1912 Dorothy Marshall of Chithurst House, near Midhurst, invited Clive Carey to Sussex to collect traditional songs. He visited on three or four occasions and together with the material Miss Marshall noted down herself they amassed over 200 songs, collected from some twenty odd individuals. The singers included some of Miss Marshall’s domestic servants and ranged from as far afield as Duncton and Sullington in the east to Treyford in the west.

Most of their material is now in the Clive Carey Collection of the Vaughan Williams Library of the EFDSS, recently made available online as part of their Full English project.

On occasion either words or tune are missing and when they took down two or more versions of a song it is not always clear which melody went with which text. In my selection I have tried to fill the gaps with words or text from other versions in the Full English that seem to fit and were collected elsewhere in the South Country.

Please note that at the moment these songs are provided here just for our own enjoyment. They may later be added to our official repertoire, taking into account how well liked they are and how we get on with them. Please make your thoughts known!

Local Group Report – Lewes Tuesday 18th November 2014

A small but enthusiastic group of seven singers met in Lewes on 18 November (well, we were competing with the Bellowhead gig in Brighton amongst other distractions to our members!). We were in the cosy downstairs room at the John Harvey Tavern, our temporary home while the Royal Oak hosted a darts tournament. This lent a convivial atmosphere to the proceedings, despite being directly outside the ladies’ room. We were joined by new singer Rachel from Lewes who came along having heard about us from Tina.

We revisited the carols we had sung at the Weald and Downland Christmas Market and each of us tried out all 3 harmonies, whether male of female, for Falmer Carol and Sweet Bells and we also sang some non-seasonal songs including Thousands or More.

With regard to upcoming events don't forget the Napier Quire pub carol sessions in Brighton which some of us are joining – see last month’s report, the diary and Adrian’s separate report for details. Come along to sing (words are available in advance or on the nights) or just to listen; it’s great fun.

We’re back at the Royal Oak on 16 December for a seasonal get together. We’ll  make a start on the other new Christmas numbers (Christmas is now Drawing Near at Hand and Coppers’ Christmas Song) as well as looking again at the other newer songs for 2014 (Ha’naker Mill, The Constant Lovers and Country Life). With no specific events immediately on the horizon we can then open it up to sing anything else we fancy on the night so if you want to give a favourite party piece an airing now’s your chance!

Look forward to seeing as many of you who can make it, old or new, from any of the three local groups, for this last session of 2014.

Season’s greetings etc.

Tina

South Downs Folk Singers Wassail!

We will soon be welcoming the new year with our “Wassail” gathering in the evening of 17th January, 2015 at the Heene Gallery in Worthing.

South Downs Folk singers, plus family and friends, are invited join us for this festive frolic – bringing food, drink, and songs to share with all for a merry time.

Tickets are £2.50 each.  Numbers are limited so get in quick and secure your tickets NOW by contacting Henny, via the South Downs Folk Singers email.

(Tickets will also be available at our local singing sessions in December – but don't delay, confirm today!)

“Wassail”!