Worthing Local Group “At Home” Session – Wednesday 3rd February 2021

Following a fun night of laughter and joyous celebrations (oh and a bit of singing) in January, it has been decided to try another Zoom session for the Worthing Group. If you are unable to join by Zoom, or you feel it is not for you, then please join us in spirit by singing the same songs.

The song list below is adaptable to a Zoom or a no-Zoom session. Either way, all singers welcome – and welcome to our February Zoom. It is not designed to take over from Tina’s wonderful sessions, but is there to supplement our Worthing sessions which are currently based around singing alone in our own homes (but at the same time). It would be really good if we were to do some interaction with each other which will lead into small, local socially-distanced groups when the current climate eventually changes, for those who may wish to.

If you would like to bring along an individual song, poem or story then feel free to so do. If you let me know at the beginning then I will ensure we fit it in.

Though I’m not musically gifted like a lot of our members, I am content to put my IT skills to the use of the group to get these sessions moving. Therefore I have set up an initial Zoom Session for Wednesday 3rd February at 7.30pm. Currently Zoom sessions are free as long as I keep them below 40 minutes in duration; however you can have two sessions back to back. Therefore I would suggest if we are able to get this one running, that we have a 35-minute session, followed by a coffee/beer break of 5 minutes, followed by another half-hour session. All is subject to change. To log into the session use the following details below.

Join Zoom Meeting
Wednesday 3rd February 2021 at 7.30pm
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/5539231152?pwd=c05qclVGeTcxYlRzdGFFZGxtRXdTUT09
Meeting ID number: 553 923 1152
Password: SDFSFeb21

Song List (we can select the order on the evening to suit our mood):

• The Farmers Toast
• On Sussex Hills
• Country Life
• Thousands or More
• The Magpie
• Poor Froze-Out Gardeners
• Fathom the Bowl
• Where Stormy Winds Do Blow
• Life of a Man
• The Fields Lie Silent
• Hares on the Mountain

Please do not get too worried, this is a list to pick from, not all that will be covered.

Dave W

The Silver Apple Wassail

Thanks to Anne and Alan for this recording of The Silver Apple Wassail. Enjoy!

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Don't forget, all our singers are invited to send in contributions. Read this post for more information.

Lewes Virtual Session – Tuesday 19th January 2021

Hello again singers in Lewes or wherever you are. Happy 2021 and I hope you managed a peaceful and restful holiday period. Some of you may still be waiting to celebrate with family and friends who were in the wrong tier at the wrong time and the whole country is now back in lockdown awaiting the long-promised vaccines. As we have more time this year and no public performances immediately on the horizon, we can string out and enjoy the Christmas and wassailing songs for a bit longer than usual. Here are my January suggestions with attachments for you to sing along in the privacy of your own homes. New recordings for this month can be found HERE (those recorded previously are marked *).

If you prefer to sing with others, however chaotically given the limitations of latency and connections, everyone is welcome at these two Zoom sessions. The singers present will decide how to use the time. Do pop in, even if you just want to say a quick hello, being visible on camera is optional too! You should have received the links already, but they are:

TUESDAY 19th 7.30PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83131009406?pwd=Z2kyUnNhR3YzQ05lZWNxeGhZOWFMUT09
Meeting ID: 831 3100 9406
Passcode: 515155

SUNDAY 24th 3PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82077361404?pwd=dlBZeHRyMTkwV2Z4VDlsRGtsVUR5dz09
Meeting ID: 820 7736 1404
Passcode: 943906

• Let’s warm up with two old favourites celebrating our local landscapes – Ha’nacker Mill* and The Song of the Sussex Downsman*
• Next a trio of songs from our usual Christmas collection – The Sussex Mummers’ Carol, Sweet Chiming Bells and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (to the newer tune Pentonville)
• To take us to our break, two new songs which some of us already know and love from singing with Brighton Pub Carols – Then Let Us be Merry (from the singing of William Harris, blacksmith and church musician at Rodmell) and Wake Ye Shepherds (from William Boyce of Handcross)
• Welcome back with another new, but more recent, seasonal song. When It’s Christmas Time was written in 2010 by Glen Redman of Brighton Morris and Brighton Pub Carols. He gave permission for SDFS to use it five years ago when we had a lot of other new material to consider, maybe time for another look. Geoff suggested it as one of his favourites at the last Zoom.
• The last of our familiar wassailing songs for this year – Apple Tree Wassailing Song, Here We Come A-Wassailing and Wassail Wassail All Over the Town.
• And to round off the night raise your hearts and voices in Thousands or More* and East Sussex Drinking Song*

Best wishes, solidarity, golier etc!

Tina

Worthing Local Group “At Home” Session – Wednesday 6th January 2021

Update 6th January 2021: There may be some issues with connecting for the 7.30pm Zoom session. If so the second session will commence around 8.05pm.
Meeting ID: 553 923 1152
Password: SDFSJAN21

7.30pm start if attending the Zoom meeting

A Happy, Brighter, Calmer and Safer New Year to all our SDFS singers and followers. As 2021 begins with alarming levels of the virus still amongst and between us, but also positive news of vaccines and light ahead at the end of this long tunnel, what better way to comfort our spirits, celebrate our hope and express our New Year resolution to keep the SDFS going than to SING – even if it is just to ourselves at home. Many thanks again to Tina for her generous contribution to keeping our SDFS spirits up and song repertoire aired during the shutdown, and to Keith for his support in maintaining our website and posting the monthly notices which keep us in touch – and now also to Dave W, who has offered to host an interactive Zoom session for this month’s Worthing session.

The song list below is adaptable to a Zoom or a no-Zoom session. So for non-Zoomers it still has no mute facility or pictures, so your sound, chosen setting and attire are unrestricted, subject perhaps to others in your household and your neighbours! Either way, all singers welcome – and Welcome to our new Zoom host Dave!

Henny

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And now over to Dave:

Hi all, after speaking to Henny and the rest of the team it seemed that we should consider having a local (Worthing) group Zoom session for the SDFS. It is not designed to take over from Tina’s wonderful sessions, but is there to supplement our sessions which are currently based around singing alone in our own homes (but at the same time). It would be really good if we were to do some interaction with each other which will lead into small local social-distanced groups when the current climate eventually changes, for those who may wish to. Although not musically gifted like a lot of our members, I am content to put my IT skills to the use of the group to get these sessions moving. Therefore I have set up an initial Zoom Session for this Wednesday at 7.30pm. Currently Zoom sessions are free as long as I keep them below 40 minutes in duration; however you can have two sessions back to back. Therefore I would suggest if we are able to get this one running, that we have a 35-minute session, followed by a coffee/beer break of 5 minutes, followed by another half-hour session. All is subject to change. To log into the session use the following detail below.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/6202775062?pwd=MHJzWlBWYmRMRnJ4SFRVLzNCbWZTZz09
Meeting ID: 620 277 5062
Password: TnAX4Q

To get us into the swing of it I would suggest we consider the following songs for this first meeting. All these can change on the day if considered unsuitable or difficult to control via a Zoom session. We can discuss how the songs will be controlled at the first session. So if you have any experience in the conduct of such sessions then happy to take your advice.

• Pleasant and Delightful
• The Fields Lie Silent Now
• Righteous Joseph
• The Holly and the Ivy
• Wassailing songs: Here We Come a-Wassailing – Sugar Wassail – Apple Tree Wassail
• When Stormy Winds do Blow
• I heard a Bird Sing
• Country Life

Anyone who wishes to sing a song or recite a poem to the group would be very welcome. This also applies if anyone would like to take the lead on any of the songs.

Dave

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Finally may I (Keith) say thank you to everybody who has contributed material for this website to keep us all singing our SDFS songs throughout 2020 despite the various restrictions we have had to observe. For any more SDFS singers who would like to contribute, remember an open invitation was posted here about a week ago (here's a direct link if you've missed this).

Here's looking forward to a new year and let us all hope we can safely start to get back together again.

Golier!