Desert Island Discs 5

Desert Island Discs Day 5 Sweet Nightingale

My quest for a Sweet Nightingale in the valley below was futile today, because they are, of course, summer visitors to the south of England. However I was enchanted by these wild snowdrops growing in profusion on the steep banks of the densely wooded valley near my home.

My fith disc is a Cornish folk song, that I first sang at Primary school.
We listened weekly to the wonderful 'Singing Together' radio programme that reached us via a huge golden plywood clad radio that was wheeled into the classroom on a trolley. There was an illustrated booklet with the words and music to accompany the programme.

I know that CarolineJay listened to the very same, and wonder how many others of our era owe their love of singing to 'Singing Together'

This song has come back to haunt me time after time during my life, on family holidays in Cornwall, year after year, we went to folk nights at The Ring 'O Bells in St Issey and heard Charlie Bates sing this accompanied by the accordion. Later when I worked in North Devon, it was a popular number in the pubs, and then in Birmingham at a little bar in Harborne I heard it again. Even in Ireland more recently I sang along to it in a bar in Dublin.

I am surprised this is the only decent recording of this charming song on Youtube. The Sweet Nightingale will serve its purpose on my desert island in reminding me of the richness and variety of regional folk music throughout the British Isles.

And maybe, if I sing some sea shanties, a jolly tar may come to my rescue.