JANUARY 2017

NOSON LAWEN

The Black Sheep Choir

(In)Different Strings

The January meeting of the Chelmsford and District Welsh Society, held at the Cathedral Chapter House, took the form of a Noson Lawen (translating roughly into English as A Merry Evening), in which Society members themselves provided various forms of entertainment.
President Arthur Williams acted as MC for the evening, interspersing the acts with some hilarious answers to GCSE questions. Long-standing member Derrick Thomas warmed up a packed hall with some amusing anecdotes, delivered in his usual inimitable style. The President then provided the guitar accompaniment for himself and his wife Carys, duetting with some traditional Welsh songs.
Dianne Moul held her listeners in thrall with a reading of Noel Coward’s poem “The Boy Actor” before Brian Farmer and the Society’s Secretary, Gwenno Pope, picked up their ukeleles to lead the audience, from whose ranks an informal (but, one suspects, pre-planned) kazoo and tambourine band emerged, in a miscellany of folk songs and sea shanties.
Following a rendering of one of her favourite poems, “The Small Window” by RS Thomas, Margaret Cox shared some reminiscences of her past working at Broomfield Hospital; the concert hall, gardens and cherry tree-lined drive (not to mention the free parking) are sadly long-lost to visitors to the modern hospital of today!
The skillful fingers of harpist Buddug Rowland Frank opened the second half of the programme with a medley including traditional Welsh tunes, hymns and an Italian song, “Santa Lucia” An appreciative audience then enjoyed Clive Bright’s unaccompanied baritone performance of the well-known Welsh ballad “Myfanwy”.
Stuart Austin, in his first attendance at a Society event, surprised the audience by singing a version of “The Day We Went to Bangor”, followed by a tune on his harmonica. The Welsh learners class demonstrated its progress in the language by singing a variety of Welsh pieces under the watchful eye of their tutor, Ivy Price, who accompanied them on the piano.
The evening’s programme was completed by appearances in both halves by two groups of performers. Five-piece guitar/mandolin combo,“Indifferent Strings”, performed an eclectic mixture of items, ranging from the English classic “Greensleeves” to Caribbean number “Yellow Bird”, via a sailor’s hornpipe. The “Black Sheep” choir sung four pieces, the volume of two of which (Tom Jones classics “Delilah” and “The Green Green Grass of Home”) was considerably swelled by the enthusiastic participation of the audience.

The Society's Welsh Learners Group

             Buddug Rowland Frank                                                   Top Arthur Williams

                                                                                                    Bottom Margaret Cox

                                           Stuart Austin                                                                      Clive Bright

Photos Copyright D. Brown                Video Copyright Gwenno Pope