Being Friday the 25th of October, 2013 ...

A veritable plethora of instruments arrived ...

Lucy's bass guitar is particularly handsome ...

Then we admired this ...

David constructed this harp as a retirement project.
He played it charmingly.

Here's one of the tunes he played ...

"Creeping fog is on the river,"
sang Nigel.

... and Roger got into trouble with Fielding's Gang.
Pity the fate of these young felons.

.
The precise details of what happened after all that are unclear as Dogsbody had to leave early.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that everyone helped to clear up.
No lives nor limbs were lost, and Berry ensured that the hall was left secure.

Thank you, everyone.
Thank you, Berry.

Being Friday the 18th of October, 2013 ...

On this day, in the year of our Lord, MXIV, Cnut the Great, (so-called,) with his Danish forces defeated the English army of King Edmund II at the battle of Assandun.
(Nobody is quite sure where Assandun is  - or was.)

We all know what happened next …

I think it's time we moved, my Lord.

Meanwhile, back in the Guide Hall in 2013 ...

Look out, look out ...
there are balloons about!

Angela, fortified and uplifted by her customary beverage led us in another evening of music and fun.

6 guitars, 1 fiddle, a ukulele and a bodhran comprised our instruments.

Molly demonstrated the air-accordion.

This collaboration is becoming a bit of a habit.
Such activity should be 'banned'!

Paul sang about a hydro-atmospheric phenomenon ...

Note the anvil head of this cumulonimbus cloud. It is caused by temperature inversion near the tropopause.

Mike used the verb 'discombobulate' again.

Dogsbody learned how to spell it ...  and remained utterly confused!

"Nay, nay!" said little Nell to Mosel.
"I'll stick to bread and dripping!"

Connor dreamed of Donegal hills ...

Mount Errigal, Co. Donegal.

We all went home, warmed by camaraderie ...

in hopes for the morrow ...

Like a breath I knew would come ...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ...

The City Folk Club will not be meeting on ...

Friday, 8th November.

This is because the Guides have prior call on the venue.

Be assured, however, that our tenure of the hall on all other Friday evenings is secure until the end of the year.

Being Friday the 11th of October, 2013 ...

All the leaves [were] brown and the sky [was] grey ...

The weather was truly grim, but that did not deter 10 of our regular participants from braving the elements.

Angela shared this wisdom: "Ginger tea is uplifting."
Somebody responded, for no apparent reason, with the phrase, "Intergalactic laxative."

Paul wished he was a mole.

Lynda was a cabin boy on a vessel like this ...

... and I used to sleep standing on my feet.

Bill sang about fox hunting.
That is - the fox was hunting geese.
The fox won.

The death-count for the evening was considerable as Angela and Bill competed to sing the longest ballad.
There was one suicide, at least two murdered wives, fratricide ... and incest!

Then ... a voice came from the deep ...

... my breath is earthy strong.

In contrast to these tragedies, our moods were elevated by yodelling and whistling ...

It must have been the effects
of this beverage!

So, we all said, "Thank you, Mr. Paul," before clearing up and rolling home in the rain feeling particularly warmed.

PS. Dogsbody got it wrong: Sydney Carter, the writer of John Ball, died in 2004.
(That's THIS century, Nigel!)
His best known work was Lord of the Dance which he put to the Appalachian tune, Simple Gifts.
Now, we haven't heard that for a while ...

Being Friday the 4th of October, 2013 ...

Being also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, on this date in 1582, (it was Thursday that year,) Pope Gregory XIII instituted the modern-day calendar by abandoning 10 days from the month of October.

I hereby declare ...
"The morrow shall be the fifteenth day of October."

Historians were thrown into utter confusion ... and remain so.
There was widespread civil unrest as common people believed that the Catholic Church had thereby stolen 10 days from their lives.

Notwithstanding the above, 15 people and a stuffed penguin came along to The City Folk Club to share and enjoy music in good company.
('cos that's what we do so well.)

We welcomed Cindy and Jan who discovered us by some strange misfortune.
They seemed to enjoy the evening.
That was very encouraging.
We hope you'll come again.

Dogsbody, in the chair, using only three fingers, was less than outstanding but everyone else done good.

It's a mandocello, tuned DADG.

We made music.
We were only benignly unpleasant to each other.
Ken said a rude word: hurdy-gurdy!

Roger, quite unnecessarily, apologised for 'over-exposure'.

A theme organically evolved that involved dancing.
(Please understand that our venue has no licence for such frivolous activity.)

Across Texas in 3/4 time.

Paul and Roger had us raptures with this.
Some of us shed tears.

It would be churlish to say any more.
We all went home with good feelings, looking forward to our next congregation: Friday, 11th inst.