Local Group Report – Worthing – Wednesday 3rd January 2018

For the first Worthing meeting of the new year 35 SDFSingers gathered, still in festive mood, to sing a mix of seasonal songs – all sung with pleasure, some just for fun and others in preparation for our Wassail social on 20th January and our first public performance of the year at the Worthing Seed Swap on 10th February. We started with the Falmer Carol, including the extra verses David in our Chichester group has discovered. These were written by the Coppers and we have their permission to use them (if attributed). They make the carol considerably longer and richer, and we look forward to singing them again next Christmas. With the Seed Swap in mind we sang The Turmut Hoers and Poor Froze Gardeners before returning to the festive season with The Twelve Sheep of Christmas, a variation written by one of our singers, Hannah, and much enjoyed. The fun continued with The Three Moles, a song created by another of our singers, Gordon, in the Chichester group in honour of the pub where they used to meet in Selham. After a break we bridged the seasons with the Woodcutters Song, Oak, Ash and Thorn, and The Farmer’s Toast, before going back to a carol when Emily introduced and taught us a verse from Remember O Thou Man. This had been performed by Keith at the Chichester group’s ‘sing-around’ before Christmas, and it’s another one to try again next Christmas. Country Life, then Sugar Wassail and Apple Wassail followed, and we finished our evening with The Holly Bears a Berry. Happy New Year!