Singing for supper raises money for Help for Heroes

The many talents of Little Ship Club members and their friends were on display at the Shanty evening, expertly led and coordinated by Mark Turvey with assistance from Rachel Hedley and a trusty team of Shanty singers raising their voices almost as high as the temperature in the Clubroom.

The evening, a fundraising event for Help for Heroes, brought together readings, songs, communal shanty-singing, a bit of table-banging and raised £560 for the charity.

Proceedings began with Mark Turvey, daughter Alice and two friends from their choir, singing "Men of Cornwall", an amusing view of people from those parts sung to the tune Cwm Rhonddha (Bread of Heaven).

Julie Coleclough brought us an excerpt from Isobel Jamieson, "Skeletta and the White Knight", written in 1925. "Rounding the Mull", or perhaps more aptly "How Not to Round the Mull", is a long-suffering wife's account of her husband/skippers tidal miscalculations:

"Tide calculations are more than usually necessary to get round the Mull of Kintyre successfully…the tide behaved as it proverbially does, and did not wait for us. The train analogy is misleading. When you miss a train, you may at least remain in situ until another turns up; but if you miss a tide, the wrong one insists on carrying you some way back with it."

We came further south for the next reading, as David Roache read a story of more than enough rain from Lancashire, "Three ha'pence a foot":

"Sam asked Noah what was 'is business, And t'ould chap went on to remark,
That not liking the look of the weather, 'E were thinking of building an Ark.

"E'd gotten the wood for the bulwarks, And all t'other shipbuilding junk
And wanted some nice Bird's Eye Maple, to panel the side of 'is bunk."

After a rousing rendition of "Stormy Old Weather" and "Haul Away Joe", grace was said by Caroline Sedgwick with a reading of Psalm 107 vv 23-30 from the 1611 King James Version (or Authorised Version) of the Bible, which is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year:  "They that goe down to the sea in ships: that doe businesse in great waters; / These see the works of the Lord: and his wonders in the deep."

The first course was served (and demolished)

We now came to what was christened the "Foreign Language" slot. "Tir n'a Noir" is a well-known Norwegian folk song in which an old man remembers sweet Mary McKear in the mythical haven Tir N'a Noir. Rune Bakken had invited two friends to sing and play, because: "The last time I sang was about 20 years ago and they are still talking about how bad it was." His friends turned out to be the musical highlight of the evening, with Elisabeth Lund singing and Frida Frederikke Waaler Wærvågen on cello. The audience was spellbound.

To break the spell, Hunter Peace gave a true account of the scattering of the ashes of former Club secretary Peggy Wise, on the waters of Osborne Bay, before we were entertained by Alja Schmidt and Gabe Langerak singing "Old Amsterdam" in Dutch. Gabe's friend James gave an interesting translation of the words, with a fair bit of creative licence.

Richard Keen read "From a Ship's Master to her Owners", a report (was it true or is this fiction?) of an incident involving a merchant ship, an anchor, a harbour, a swing bridge… which had the audience clutching their sides. Patrick Smith and Rachel Hedley then took to the floor with a rendition of "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat", which included devil horns, a dice, a whiskey bottle and a checkered coat. They sang too.

The main course was served (and demolished)

Robin Whaite, rear commodore sail and power, aptly opened the third part of the evening with a passage from "Three Men in a Boat" which highlights the value of experience, "Sailing is a thing that wants knowledge and practice, though, as a boy, I did not think so. I had an idea it came natural to a body, like rounders and touch… Hector, I think that was his name, went on pulling while I unrolled the sail. It seemed a complicated job, but I accomplished it at length, and then came the question.. which was the top end?"

Now it was time for us all to sing "Spanish Ladies", but not before Robin had given us a little navigation training by pointing out that the song's words are a mnemonic for sailing up the English Channel, from taking soundings on sand of 45 fathoms, to ticking off the headlands up to Dover: Dodman, Rame Head, Portsmouth the Wight, Beachy, Fairlight and Dover.

In reflective mood, George McNeill read Hilaire Belloc's "That Will Be The End of My Sailing."

"Up that fairway shall I go, up into the cover, and the gates of it shall shut behind me, headland against headland, so that I shall not see the open sea anymore, though I shall still hear its distant noise. But all around me, save for that distant echo of the surf will be silence, and the evening will be gathering already."

Bernadette Knee gave us an introduction to Help for Heroes, the charity for which we were raising money, and exhorted all to put their hands in their pockets and contribute to a silent collection, the only sound to be heard would be the fluttering of notes into silverware. The young men and women of the University Royal Naval Unit, gave a rousing rendition of "Heart of Oak", the naval song which celebrates the "wonderful year" of 1759-60 during which the British forces were victorious at many significant battles. The URNU proved that the spirit of 1759 lives on.

Dessert was served (and demolished)

With a vote of thanks from the Commodore, and an announcement that the collection had reached £536 we were treated to "My Son John", sung by Mark Turvey with daughter Alice and accompanied by Jamie Cartwright on guitar, a song which amongst the Fol-de-riddles recounts the story of a soldier who loses his legs when hit by a cannonball. It was an apt follow-up to hearing about the very necessary work of Help for Heroes which aims to support injured servicemen and women for the rest of their lives.

We rounded off with "Hanging Johnny" and "Safe and Sound and Home Again" before carriages were called and we escaped into the balmy November night. We'll be back next year.

One long-standing member who made a rare appearance for the evening was our HPO for Frinton-on-Sea, Mrs Genny Halyard. We expect her to be in touch soon, if the former Copper Kettle Tea Room is still offering its services as an internet cafe. Watch this space!