OK, time for yet another bit of self indulgence so if you don`t fancy it, time to look away now.

Turned on the news this morning and, like most other mornings, it`s full of people complaining about something, arguing with each other, disagreements everywhere.   Now maybe there is enough bad stuff going on in the world to warrant complaints and arguments all the time but it all gets a bit much at times.

 I think it was Neil Finn of Crowded House who wrote, "...and the papers today, tales of war and of waste, so you turn right over to the tv page."  So, when I feel the need to take a break from it all, rather than turning to the tv page, I turn once more to music - if music be the food of peace and comfort as well as love, play on.

So, ploughing through my wide ranging `collection` of music I quite often seek peace and comfort in Sir Edward Elgar`s Enigma Variations and especially the version of `Nimrod,` which has been adapted (probably the wrong word) as choral music. It reminds me that wonderful music can do wonderful things.   Here it is sung by a gifted eight piece combo  - have a listen and I hope you will agree that the music is seriously inspiring........

Latin text Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

English translation Let perpetual light shine upon them, O Lord, with your saints for ever, for you are merciful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

 

Time  I had a rant about music.  The other evening - I think it was on BBC News - we were treated to a few clips of the `artists` who have been nominated for this year`s Brit Awards, which are due to take place next month.   I didn`t quite catch the name of some of the nominees or, indeed, the titles of their `songs` but I was a bit flummoxed, if not perplexed, by the fact that it was just about impossible to understand what they might have been `singing` about.

Now this year the Brit Awards are hailed as being the most diverse ever - no problem with that as every section of our society has the right to express themselves as they wish through their music and other art forms.  But being an old school kind of guy who was brought up in the days when songs were songs and music was music, I find it a bit difficult to understand not only the lyrics (if indeed that is what they are) but also the delivery which, to be inclusive and diverse, resorts to indecipherable mumblings in a streetwise accent, lots of arm waving and an assumption that anyone who knows anything about music will automatically know what they`re on about. 

Among the nominees for best single of the year are:-   

• 220 Kid & GRACEY - Don't Need Love
• Aitch & AJ Tracey feat. Tay Keith - Rain
• Dua Lipa - Physical
• Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar
• Headie One feat. AJ Tracey and Stormzy - Ain't It Different
• Joel Corry feat. MNEK - Head & Heart
• Nathan Dawe feat. KSI - Lighter
• Regard & RAYE - Secrets
• S1MBA feat. DTG - Rover
• Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One - Don't Rush

Well, at least I`ve heard of Harry Styles (I think) but Young T & Bugsey feat. Headie One and their other chums in this line-up leave me baffled.   There are other equally imposing lists for other nominations - best album, best newcomer - things like that, but you get my drift.

It`s all a long way from when the Brits started all those years ago.  In 1977, for example, the Album of the Year was `Sgt. Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Band` and the Single of the Year was Queen`s `Bohemian Rhapsody.`  Ten years on and the Album chosen was Dire Straits` `Brothers in Arms` and the Single for 1987 was `Everybody wants to Rule the World` from Tears for Fears.  All very comprehensible, all very enjoyable, all still classics of their time and all very musical.    Here`s a reminder of how things used to be:-

 

Thank you for the music...

 

SAX WARS..

OK, following my last rant about the BBC I have to be fair (well, a bit) and say that the redeeming factor for BBC TV might be BBC Four.  It seems to cater for those of us who prefer the obscure, the unusual, the thought provoking and I was pleased some time ago to learn that BBC Four`s survival had been secured at the expense of BBC Radio Three which has apparently now gone online.   

Anyway, the other evening BBC Four showed again a documentary covering the life and work of Gerry Rafferty, he of Baker Street fame of course - but so much more as well.  And it provoked the thought in my obscure, unusual mind as to whether the saxophone solo, courtesy of the late Raphael Ravenscroft, was the best there has been in popular music.  Have a listen and see what you think:-

But maybe there`s a rival?  Years ago I got a bit hooked on the music produced and performed by the Alan Parsons Project and I always thought that the saxophone solo from Mel Collins on "Don`t Answer Me" was as good as anything I had ever heard.  So here`s that one - it`s about two and a half minutes in but the whole track is worth listening to:-

So there we have it.  In some respects this post is something of a memorial to those artists who have now left us - Gerry Rafferty died aged just 63 in 2011; Raphael Ravenscroft left us in 2014 aged just 60 and Eric Woolfson, who sang the lyrics in "Don`t Answer Me" passed away at just 64 in 2009.

But of course old rockers never die - they just roll away?

END TITLES...

It must have been ten years ago, back in the days when Southampton were consigned to playing in League One (aka Division Three of the Football League) when my season ticket took me to St, Mary`s Stadium to watch the Saints come to terms with their decline and fall.  There was no pressure back then - no expectation - and so we used to sit in the Itchen Stand with a feeling of que sera sera in the hope that we might be entertained and that the game might end with a sense of optimism.  One game in particular might have been against the now dearly departed Bury FC - The Shakers - but they were all much of a muchness in those days of shoulder-shrugging resignation. 

My good friend, the Itchen Sitter - he chose the name as his on line moniker as he, like me, sat in the Itchen Stand - and we got to having interesting chats during the frequent lulls in proceedings on the field of play and I recall him encouraging me to watch a film he had recently seen suggesting it was the kind of film I might enjoy.   The film was `Gran Torino` written, produced, directed and starring Clint Eastwood as a Korean war veteran struggling with all kinds of `issues,` not least the fact that his street had been taken over by Hmong neighbours

I eventually got around to seeing it and despite its inherent violence and culture clashes, there was much to admire - the characterisation, the acting, the feeling of authenticity,  the way the story unfolded until the Clint Eastwood character  committed the ultimate redemption - he was dying anyway - by sacrificing himself to a hail of bullets so that his  Hmong neighbours might live in peace.  It turned up again on ITV4 recently, so I was able once again to appreciate all it had to offer.

But for all that I make no apology for confessing that the best bit of the whole thing was the song that accompanied the end titles.   It was written and sung by Jamie Cullum and it summed up the essence of the film, along with the difficulty of finding things to rhyme with `Torino.`   Anyway, here it is in all its poignant melodic excellence:-

Back in November 2018 I posted this - https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=34732787#editor/target=post;postID=5290201926455187137;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=161;src=postname   (Please click on this link to see what it was all about.)

We now know that Peter Green passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday and this really tragic news has been greeted with an outpouring of sadness at the passing of one of the great guitarists, songwriters and singers.   A man of the world indeed - someone who gave much and suffered so much too but one who will always be remembered by those like me who love and appreciate music at its finest.  I`m tempted to go on a bit, but perhaps it`s enough just to say - in all sincerity - `Oh well.`  He will be missed and remembered in this parish.

IN THIS WORLD OF TROUBLE.....

It`s a difficult time at the moment.  And of course there have been difficult times before and in my eighty years I have known a few.   And when they come along there are some things that keep me going through it all - friends, family, the sheer joy of being and never wanting it to end.   And one of the  most important things for me has always been music and my music pulls me through.

Here`s a guy who knows all about that (and the lighting rig is a bit special too)......

THE RIGHT KIND OF MUSIC...

I guess when you reach a certain age topics of conversation drift in to things you never really thought about too much when you were younger.   Having crossed the threshold of octogenerianism I find that conversations with others seem often to revolve largely around  things medical, which is a subject I don`t really do.  More worryingly I`m finding that funerals are coming round a bit more frequently than either I or the deceased might have wished.  And, sadly, I attended yet another one just the other day, this time for a good friend and neighbour who I had known ever since we moved here well over thirty years ago.

It was beautifully done - quite simple and yet conducted in a spirit of heartfelt sympathy for the bereaved, coupled with a genuine appreciation of the life and times of our departed friend.   Now, I`m pretty sure that years ago it was the tradition that any music played at such an event was likely to be mournful, religious in nature and clearly not designed to lift the spirits of  those present.  How things have changed over the years and much the better for it.

I`ve thought back to funeral services I`ve been to over recent years and each time the proceedings have included music chosen by the family which seemed to them to be right for the occasion.   For example, I chose `Time to Say Goodbye` sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman for my own mother`s service;  last year an old school friend went out to the sound of Frank Sinatra belting out `New York, New York;` and another occasion heard Matt Monro singing `Softly as I Leave You.`  I guess that in their own way they were `appropriate` as a memory for the departed and seemed just the right music for the day.

My most recent experience was the one I went to just a few days ago and the music chosen for that seemed also seemed to be just right.  It was `Memories`, sung by the velvet voice of Perry Como and it`s hard to imagine anything more appropriate for the occasion, the family and friends of our late neighbour.  An inspired choice from days when songs were songs and singers could sing.   Here it is:-

Trouble is, it all made me start to wonder what might be appropriate for my own departure.  I`ll get back to you about that.

So, in a couple of weeks the UK will be leaving the political project that is the European Union and it will be interesting to see what the practical effects might be, both for us here in the good ol` U of K and for our friends and partners across the channel.  Some of those changes might give the opportunity to recapture some of the magic of our past, those long ago times before we were seduced into the EU in the first place.

I`ll be interested to see if we can find the courage to go back to how some things were - the reintroduction of our former currencies such as the half crown, the florin, the farthing etc., all of which made perfect sense, of course - four farthings in a penny, twelve pennies in a shilling, two shillings in a florin, twenty shillings in a pound and so on. 

We might even reintroduce the old gallon rather than having litres of petrol and, who knows, there might be improvements to our sporting life as we go back to penalties being awarded for deliberate handball;  and where being anywhere on a football pitch in an offside position meant you were interfering with play.  (I think cricket pitches still stick to the original 22 yards of a chain but I might be wrong about that, not having played the game for over half a century.)

There is some seductive charm about going back to days gone by - when things were so much more simple, where life was lived at a different, less stressful pace than today, when priorities were established around friends and family instead of being imposed via `social media.`   It`s funny how music almost always sums up a mood and all those years ago the divine Carole King along with Gerry Goffin wrote stuff then that is perhaps even more relevant today.   One of my favourite tracks of theirs, which seems so appropriate as we head out of the EU`s clutches, has long been `Goin` back` and the last few lines seem to capture what I mean in this jumbled rant:-

"Let everyone debate the true reality.

I`d rather see the world the way it used to be.

A little bit of freedom`s all we lack.

So catch me if you can

I`m going back."

And here it is sung by the equally divine and much missed Dusty Springfield:-

It has now been well over three years since the EU Referendum, since when we seem to have been stuck in a time warp as the UK Parliament has failed time and again to implement the decision - and it was a decision given to the British people to make - to leave the institution that is the European Union.   The vote was pretty close but clear with a majority well over a million votes.

Now I confess to have voted to leave - mainly for reasons that might be partly selfish,  based partly on family history but principally because I thought it best for the country to regain its independence, to be able to conduct its own affairs and to confirm its place as a leading nation in world affairs, trade and international relations.  I quite accept that those who voted to remain in the EU are more than entitled to their view but in the end a democratic decision was made by the people and needed to be respected and acted upon.

But the way that Parliament has behaved in all that time has been a national disgrace and continues to be so.   MPs have shown themselves to be incapable of applying reason to carrying out the will of the majority but instead we have had a litany of argument, manoeuvre and evasion all attempting to disguise the reality that the majority of MPs did not agree with the referendum result and so have used the three years to indulge in blatant political opportunism all leading to the farcical situation in which the nation now finds itself.  They shout, they argue, they rant, they bring the game into disrepute and wonder why most people outside of Westminster or even London are thoroughly tired of them and all their works.

Last night I watched the first ten minutes or so of the BBC Question Time programme which quickly descended into yet more shouting, arguing and ranting leaving the audience once again perplexed that these politicians can behave the way they do rather than concentrate on the mandate they should have honoured months, if not years, ago.  I switched the TV off as I could stand it no longer.

And all the sound and fury both within Parliament and outside reminded me of Joe South`s `Games People Play.`   His song goes back decades but is somehow still relevant to modern day British politicians.   The first few lines are:-

`Oh the games people play now

Every night and every day now

Never meaning what they say now

Never saying what they mean

And they wile away the hours

In their ivory towers

Till they're covered up with flowers

In the back of a black limousine.`

Once again it takes music to tell the truth but I wonder what lyrics will be able to describe the mayhem on the streets if the referendum result is ultimately denied and the majority are silent no more..............

ANOTHER SAD LOSS...

I suppose I became something of a film buff during my National Service days when, in order to supplement the pittance the army doled out every week I got a job as projectionist in the garrison cinema, the AKC Globe at Paderborn in what was then West Germany.  Ever since I have enjoyed countless films, mainly on television these days, and so I was very sorry to learn of the passing of Nicolas Roeg over the weekend.

I first became aware of his prodigious talent when he was Director of Photography on John Schlesinger`s epic adaptation of Hardy`s `Far from the Madding Crowd` starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates.   I remember being enthralled not only by the fair Julie, of course, but also by the way in which the landscape of my native Dorset had been captured in all its pastoral innocence by Nic Roeg`s cinematography.   And, me being me, it`s very often the music score which I remember and Richard Rodney Bennett`s  Prelude for that film is one of its haunting features, complementing the landscape and something of the forlorn nature of the leading characters.   Here it is.......

One of Nic Roeg`s early films as a director was `Walkabout` with Jenny Agutter and Roeg`s seven year old son Luc playing the hapless children abandoned in the Australian outback.  It was then that he began to use his role as director to experiment, to introduce new ways of editing, to use film as more of an art form than just commercial entertainment.   And again `Walkabout` gave composer John Barry an early commission to bring his own unique musicality to the screen.   He went on, of course, to compose the music for the James Bond  movies, as well as `Out of Africa,` Dances with Wolves` and so many others.

Again for me `Walkabout` would not have been quite so rich without John Barry`s score. Here`s what I mean.......

But genuine thanks and appreciation for the extraordinary body of work that Nic Roeg has bequeathed us.  The whole of the world of cinema is much the poorer for his passing.

Is this the real life?  Is this just fantasy?

Now I`m not one who is usually seduced by fantasy - I like to think I`m pretty `normal` and not prone to flights of fancy but I have to confess to an odd chain of events which I have just experienced.

A week or so ago I recorded a programme on Sky Arts which was a documentary about the life of Peter Green (pictured) - one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac The documentary was originally made in 2007 or 2008 so it`s at least ten years old but what fascinated me about it - apart from the unforgettable music - was to see how, after a life ravaged by drugs and psychosis, Peter had mellowed into his advanced years.  He`s 72 now and the photo above is of course a million miles away from the youthful images he portrayed in his prime.

So, having finished watched the documentary last night, I go on to YouTube and watch, time and again, his haunting masterpiece, `Man of the World.`   I can`t get it out of my head, as Kylie might say.  

This morning I wander up the road to the local shop, buy my newspaper and as I go out of the door, a man arrives that I hadn`t seen before in the village.  We look at each other, nod  almost knowingly and I`m left with the distinct feeling that I knew who he was.  I`m convinced it was Peter Green and perhaps my conviction was confirmed when I saw his car - a pretty old Vauxhall something - with the personalised number plate which included PRG and an Essex connection. (I won`t give the full number for obvious reasons.)  And it was green.   

I should have hung around and asked him who he was but I thought better of it - he might not have taken kindly to the intrusion and if it had been Peter Green I`m pretty sure he would not have wanted his privacy invaded.

Maybe the whole thing was a fantasy after all; maybe I was imagining it but I can confirm that I was not under the influence of any fantasy-inducing substance.  Anyway, just to round it off, here`s the great man in his prime singing one of his sublime songs from those days now lost in the mist of time but forever in the memory.........

IT`S NOT THAT FAR...

One of our New Forest visits reminded me - and I`m not quite sure why because the contrast could not have been greater - of one of the lyrics from the wonderful but sorely missed Kirsty McColl.   "From an uptown apartment to a knife on the A-train, it`s not that far.......from the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement it`s not that far"....and so on.

And our visit to Boldrewood on a mid summer weekend afternoon was perhaps not the best time to go - car park full, all those people determined to get away from it all only to find themselves surrounded by all those people.   And on our way back to our probably illegally parked car, I spotted some rising smoke from the inevitable barbecue.  This photo I took gives a flavour of what a summer barbie in the New Forest might look like.......

But if you take the trouble to walk away from all that you can find an area set aside for deer watching. It`s not that far. The silence is deafening, the mayhem left behind and if you`re patient and lucky, as I was, you might just catch a glimpse of what the Forest is really all about.  Here`s a photo I took of that quiet moment.......

Oh yes - and on the subject of Kirsty McColl`s lyrical song writing, one of her most sad but hopefully predictive lyrics included the line, "Now it`s England 2 Colombia 0 and I know just how those Colombians feel......"    Another reminder of her remarkable genius?  We might find out tomorrow evening.

I suppose I am blessed with a very wide taste in music, much of it classical but I enjoy most forms of music.  And it might be a touch naff but I have always been a bit of a fan of ABBA.  One of the fondest memories I have is one which goes back 20 years to when my granddaughters cajoled me in to taking them on a tour of the nearby playgrounds, so they could enjoy the swings, roundabouts and all that.  

It turned out to be something of an adventure as we toured around several villages and all the while as I was driving them around I had an ABBA tape (pre-cds of course) belting it out in the car with all three of us singing along.

So, happy memories of ABBA from all those years ago but just recently I have been following the post-ABBA career of Agnetha.  Nowadays, she is - how can I say ? - a mature woman and as I approach the last of my septuagenarian years, my appreciation of `the mature woman` increases exponentially.   So, I have greatly enjoyed this more recent performance by Agnetha, which seems to confirm that a lot of things, especially people, become more attractive as time goes by.   Here it is:-

EAST COAST CROSS WINDS ON THE COLD WET STONE...

I was sorry to learn that Chris Rea had suffered yet another heart attack whilst performing in Oxford the other evening - the 35th gig of his current tour.   He was rushed to hospital and his condition was described as `stable,` which was better news than might have been expected.   He has naturally had to cancel a couple of shows, although there might be an outside chance that he could fulfil the last engagement of the current tour at Bournemouth tomorrow evening.  Let`s hope that signifies a full recovery might be possible but something tells me he would be better off putting his feet up and getting a decent rest.  After all, he`s 66 now.

He is perhaps best known for a whole string of hit records including Driving Home for Christmas and The Road to Hell.   But for me, his most memorable compositions and performances came when he wrote and sang about his birthplace of Middlesbrough.  I know little about Middlesbrough - David Armstrong, the former Saints midfield dynamo was signed from Middlesbrough FC and, more recently, a very good friend from my National Service days hailed from there before he left us a year or so ago.

But you get a real flavour of the town in some of Chris Rea`s songs about the place - Stainsby Girls, Steel River and especially Windy Town, probably my favourite from all of his large and impressive collection.  So, leave the Road to Hell behind and get on the Road to Recovery, Chris.  Here`s `Windy Town`:-

PLUS CA CHANGE...

Recognise this?   Thought not, for it was written and recorded in 1970 at the time of the appalling loss of civilian and military life as a result of the Biafra War.  The lines above are, of course, from Gilbert O`Sullivan`s `Nothing Rhymed` and it seems that nothing really rhymed for him back then - nothing made sense - the world had gone mad - and he was troubled by the indifference shown by the many to the terrible plight of the few, even though the few in the Biafra conflict accounted for between 500,000 and two million civilian lives lost to starvation.  

It`s a theme that was repeated in 1986 when Neil Finn of Crowded House again witnessed that same indifference.  A few lines from `Don`t dream it`s over` illustrate what I mean:-

`And the papers today

Full of war and of waste

But you turn right over to the TV Page.`

I guess it was forever thus and those, like me, fortunate enough to have our Bonaparte Shandy and our apple pies no doubt still turn to the TV pages and become yet more desensitised to what is really going on in an increasingly troubled world.  

But here`s a shout for the much misunderstood Gilbert who, in a catalogue of genius songs, shone a light on his own bewilderment, his own frailties, his fears, his sensitivities and his own private sense of loss (alone again - naturally.)  So, here`s `Nothing Rhymed` reminding us all that the world is still full of war and of waste and that in reality nothing really rhymes but also that nothing ever really changes:-

THE PERILS OF LEAVING EARLY..

I don`t know if it still happens but as I haven`t been to a cinema for more years than I care to remember, I don`t know what happens nowadays.   When I used to go, there was always a stampede once `THE END` appeared on the screen,  Now either the cinema-goers had a bus or a train to catch or they just wanted to get out before the ritual of standing to attention while the national anthem was played.

Trouble is, it`s easy to miss the best part of a film if you join in the stampede.  A case in point.......

One of my favourite films is `Sense and Sensibility`, beautifully directed by Ang Lee.  And it`s a favourite not for the Oscar winning screenplay and the superb acting by a talented cast, but for two other reasons.  The first is the filming locations, especially those in and around the Flete Estate in south Devon, where we have stayed on many occasions in the past and found contentment in the utterly unspoilt nature of the Erme Estuary.  Much of the `action` takes place at Efford House - it`s Barton House in the film - and the house and its surroundings has been used often for filming - `International Velvet` springs to mind.

The other reason is the quite wonderful film score by Patrick Doyle.  But those who left the film early, as the end titles came up, missed the best part of his score, for he had set  Ben Jonson`s `The Dreame` to music, beautifully arranged and sung by Lincoln`s very own Jane Eaglen.  Here are the lyrics :-

Or scorn or pity on me take,
I must the true redemption make,
I am undone tonight.
Love, in a subtle dream disguised,
Hath both my heart and me surprised,
Whom never yet be durst attempt awake;

Nor will he tell me for whose sake
He did me the delight or spite,
But leaves me to inquire
In all my wild desire
Of sleep again, who was his aid,
And sleep so guilty and afraid
And since he dares not come within my sight.

..........and here is what people missed as the credits rolled and they clambered for the exit:-

....AND THEN THERE WERE TWO.....

Tom - thank you so much for all the music and the charm.  The Wilburys have now lost George, Roy and Tom and this must leave Jeff and Bob devastated not only at the loss of yet another fine fellow musician but also of a friend who spoke the same language and loved the music of life.  (Tom Petty 1950-2017.)

`FIX YOU?`

Not surprising that the charity concert to be held at Old Trafford cricket ground this weekend was sold out in 20 minutes.  On a less happier note, it was disappointing to see that thousands of people are claiming free entrance by saying they were there on the night of the terrorist outrage - curious that 25,000 are making that claim when the original concert on 22nd May only housed 14,200 - yet another sign of the times we live in, I fear.

Quite apart from the occasion itself, a stunning line-up has been confirmed including Ariana Grande herself, whose concert was so tragically mired and who has conducted herself with immense dignity and generosity since it happened.  Take That will be appearing along with Robblie Williams, Katie Perry, Coldplay and a few more I`ve never heard of. 

One of Coldplay`s best songs seems entirely appropriate for this occasion - `Fix You,` which includes lines such as .......

`Tears stream

Down your face

When you lose something

You cannot replace.`

`Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones.
And I will try to fix you.`

Back in March, I think it was, a flash mob appeared in the West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton and gave a spontaneous and heartfelt rendering of this anthem.   Here it is.......

Coldplay might play it on Sunday at Old Trafford... it might just be a little too painful or, on the other hand, an inspired choice?

(Update:   Well, to their credit, Coldplay did deliver `Fix you,` ......although I think the flash mob version was better.  Maybe there`s less to fix in Southampton.....)

OLD GUYS STILL RULE.....

Sometimes words aren`t necessary.  Sometimes it`s best just to sit back, relax, listen, admire, enjoy and be thankful.  Still wonderful after all these years.......

Maybe it`s just me but you would think that I would have more `important` things on my mind.  But ever since I posted some stuff about the May Day celebrations in Padstow, the music - as it invariably does - has been playing on my mind, to the extent that I just can`t seem to shift it.  

Now I`m not talking about the hauntingly repetitive song that insistently declares that `summer is acome unto day.`  Instead, I`ve become almost obsessed with the Dirge.  You see, throughout the whole event, the Evening Song and the Day Song are accompanied by massed accordions and pulsating drumbeats and all the while, the Obby Oss twists, turns and cavorts to the beckoning of the Teaser.  

But there comes a point - a lull in proceedings - when the Oss falls to the ground, either out of exhaustion or as a determined reference to the dying of winter.  The accordions and the drums fall silent and the Dirge is taken up, unaccompanied, by the assembled throng.  It seems to consist of a stanza full of unconnected lines, random phrases and oblique references to St. George and `Aunt Ursula Birdwood.`   So you can see why the Dirge puzzles and intrigues me.   It goes like this:-

O where is Saint George

O where is he now?

He`s out in his longboat

All on the salt sea O.

Up flies the kite.

Down falls the lark O.

Aunt Ursula Birdhood

She had an old ewe.

And she lies in her own parc O.

And at about 6 minutes into this video, you can hear it as it was sung in Padstow in 2016........

At the end of the Dirge, the Oss leaps up with renewed vigour to signify that summer has indeed acome, the accordions strike up and with the drums beating again the procession through the town resumes. 

Now I`ve done a bit of digging around and it seems possible that the reference to St. George implies a strong connection with the Solar Deity, whose Saints Day is around 1st May.  "He`s out in his longboat....." might well refer to a funeral ship, thus referring to the death and rebirth of St. George through the choreographed fall and rise of the Oss.  It was often the custom in the distant past to place an important body, along with all his or her worldly goods, in a ship; put it to sea and even set it ablaze.

As for Aunt Ursula Birdhood, her appearance in the Dirge might allude to the Saxon Bear-Goddess, Ursel.  The constellation of the Big Dipper, Ursa Major, is often called the Great Bear.  Ursel is another Deity, this time the Moon Goddess, who was canonised and made Saint Ursula by early Christians.

But, these speculations aside, the mystery of the true origins of the Dirge remain and so when I am next in Padstow, in October, I will pay a visit to the local museum so that my inquisitive mind might be satisfied, at least until next May.