The ever popular song cycle of the ones that went to Gosport. Performed many times in clubs and elsewhere, it has now been remastered onto CD.
A heavy old boat is a Wherry,
To quant it that soon make you weary.
On the Bure and the Yare
They go everywhere
With cargoes that endlessly vary.
Alas no more, your only chance to hear again what was a rollicking good Ceilidh band in their prime. Star of the Show after all these years is still the foghorn.
The red and white lighthouse of Happisburgh,
that shimmer in the hot summer haze, bor!
But thas never as warm
when that blow up a storm
durin’ one of those cold winter days, brrr!
Songs old and specially written, with readings of letters etc of the time, that tell the story of Norfolk’s Greatest Hero, Admiral Viscount Nelson.
The sailors all loved their Admiral,
and although the battles were horrible
they fought like true Brits,
cheered him to bits,
then wept for him at his funeral.
Compiled to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the wherry ‘Albion’ this includes new and old songs all of which are about a wherry or wherryman, set on a wherry, commemorate a wherry, or just smell of one.
For me it has to be Albion,
for no other sailing craft shall be an
acceptable boat
for my holiday afloat,
yes, Albion’s the one that I shall be on.
Tunes from the ‘Social Harp’, an American 1855 Shape Note Hymnal, played on the Accordion as they never sounded in Chapel. Don’t tell the Vicar.
The Yankees and the Feds
were united in their homesteads.
They’d sing for ages
reading from pages
of notes with funny shaped heads.
Songs about people, places and events of medieval Norwich from the siege of Norwich Castle in 1075 to the re-roofing of the Cathedral in 1463+. But don't worry, none of them are as dull as it sounds!
What medieval folk did you can't re-
member, so to make sure we shan't re-
count their deeds in vain
listen again and again
to this durable musical Chantry.
Hawk & Harnser - Tune Book
ISBN 0-9549223-0-1
A compilation of Norfolk Dance Tunes as played by musicians of the past fifty years. 60 Tunes; some well-known; some not so; some never before published. Full details of sources, original recordings, the two Norfolk Dances and Biographies of Joan Roe and Norris Winstone.
I know a hawk from a handsaw,
said Hamlet
while plotting in Elsinore;
but the Bard sadly erred -
it was really a bird,
not a carpenter's tool
that the
Prince saw.
Du Diff'ren' - Tune Book
ISBN 0-9549223-2-8
These tunes are DIFFERENT!
They used to be Shape Note Hymn tunes, Northumbrian Pipe tunes, a Brandenburg Concerto and a bit of Vivaldi. One or two are Originals, but all have that necessary ingredient - out of the ordinariness!
You can sometimes be irreveren',
but never be indiff'ren'.
In Norfolk we say,
go your own way,
and always, and all ways, du diff'ren' !
QCD 0501 -
Various artists
A collection of local musicians, soloists and groups, playing tunes mostly from Hawk & Harnser in the way they have been played over the last 50 years, with Dulcimers, Fiddles, and Melodeons. Featuring the World Première of the Catfield Piano Trio!.
If traditional tunes drive your pulse in a
Jig or a Reel or a Waltz. In an
orgy you'll O/D on
fiddle, melodeon,
mouth-organ, whistle or dulcimer.
SEA 003 Produced by John Halliday
A memorable night during Carnival Week from the Granary Theatre, Wells-next-the-Sea. RJJ are joined by Mike and June Crisp, Lenny Whiting, Ray Hubbard, Percy and Doreen West, Richard Davies and Peter Coleman for a mixture of tunes, stepping, songs, banter and squit.
With a tune and a dance and a song
the evening just rolled along
at another great gig.
With Rig-a-Jig-Jig
you really can't go wrong!
MTCD 253 - a Musical Traditions CD-ROM
All the songs and tunes noted by RVW in Norfolk in 1905 and 1906, including some from the fishermen of the North End of King's Lynn, including the one that got him hooked - The Captain's Apprentice.
His inspiration grew thin
so he took the train to King's Lynn.
Round St Nicholas' steeple
he found tunes from the people
that meant his composing could begin.
MTCD 255 - a Musical Traditions CD-ROM
He brought his bike for three trips round Norfolk, noting ditties from landlords, field-workers, blacksmiths and Workhouse Inmates. A sort of Song Cycle really!
He was back again before long
where he knew he couldn't go wrong.
As he cycled around
many new songs he found
in a County now famous for song.
QCD 20.03 -
Norfolk Dance tunes you won't have heard
The orphans in the picture are not the band members, though there are several suspicious resemblances!
A new era we will usher in
for fools who blindly rush in.
The tunes are merry soundings
on this new CD called Foundlings
from the Norfolk dance band we call Hushwing
QCD 20.12
A slice of Suffolk history
Following the issue of English Country Music in 1965 Chris Morley started the East Suffolk Country Band to copy that sound and include older players and singers at sessions. This band later morphed into a largely Irish tune band. Later still it became the Orwell String Band, but two's enough for now!
While living in Little Bealings
Chris Morley found the appealings
of Bulwer and Co
irresistable, so
started playing similar Reelings.
