Local Group Report – Worthing – Wednesday 15th January 2020

We started our 2020 sessions with a packed house of 44 lifting their voices in song. The evening comprised a mix of songs from our repertoire by request, plus a couple of novelties. On Sussex Hills then Pleasant and Delightful got us going, followed by The Farmer's Toast and Rosebuds in June. Alan then presented a round for the Wassailing season which enabled us to sing to the health and fruitfulness of apple trees (and apple pies) – with the accompanying advice to keep and, at the end of the year, burn the pruned wood from the tree to use the ashes to feed the tree for the next year’s crop. Alan handed out apple twigs for this purpose! We continued with The Magpie, Thousands or More, The Turnip Hoer, Drink Me Brave Boys, The Lark in the Morning and Ebernoe Horn Fair. After a break we resumed with a local area song from Petworth, originally brought to us by Leigh when looking at local May Day songs at one of our springtime sessions last year. It was written in the 1890s in honour of the Earl of Egremont. Emily taught us the tune and with words supplied we sang it through. A Smuggler's Song came next, before another newish-to-many-of-us song which is being considered by all three local groups for our performance repertoire, When Spring Comes In. Our penultimate song was The Moon Shone Bright, requested for the New Year good wishes in its last verse, then we closed the evening with Rolling Home.

At our February session we will resume assembly on the first Wednesday of each month as normally billed – so hope to see you there on 5th February.