Local Group Report – Worthing – Wednesday 6th March 2019

We had another full house at this month’s gathering and welcomed three new singers to the fold. Having no performances in March to prepare for left us free to sing whatever songs from our repertoire we fancied, plus the chance to hear and sing a couple of new things. Fathom the Bowl started our singing before we heard and tried an alternative version of Happy Birthday to You, brought to us by Alan and now available for celebratory use at future sessions whenever needed! We went on to a number of songs learned by some at the early song project workshops. It was a pleasure to revisit the lesser-used ones from those times: Three Maidens, The Sussex Wedding Song, Green Grow the Laurel, Cruel Mother and Oh Good Ale, and to sing again some favourites, Thousands or More, Rosebuds in June and the Song of the Sussex Downsman (with Keith ably leading us through the second verse). After a break we resumed to the rising buzz of the Bee Boys Song before turning our attention to a new song, The Turtle Dove, as requested by singers who knew and liked it from the current Belloc and Broadwood Song Workshops. With agreement to revisit and learn it at future sessions, and hopefully to add it to our set, we then returned to some more old favourites: A Smuggler's Song, Country Life and Ebernoe Horn Fair to finish.