Stan Boyd (Stan the Man) sadly passed away this week. Stan was always a popular performer at The Dairyman’s Folk Session . His Irish lilt and humour made many a song special. Stan was to be found in a number of folk bands, too, alongside Den Hillier and Andy Gibbs. He was part of ‘Well Oiled’, ‘Andy’s All Stars’ and ‘Withyskinners’.
Want to keep fit this winter? Don’t want to pay gym fees and get all sweaty?
Try dancing, or more to the point try Morris dancing!
Dancing has been recommend by the British Medical Association for many years. Morris is great fun, a very social and is a quite gentle, balanced form of exercise that stimulates not only your body but your mind as well.
The Men of Wight Morris practice once a week, Thursday evenings – come and have a go. (Don’t be put off by the “Men” title, we are both sexes).
We welcome anyone over the age of 18, no previous experience of any kind of dance is needed, we give all the tuition you need.
Send us an email to get more details or just pop along to see what we are up to. Practices start 17th October, Newport Methodist Hall, Sea Street, Newport, 8:15 to 9:45.
bagman@menofwight.org.uk
The funeral for Brian Reeves will be on Friday the 4th October, at 1.30pm at Newport Crematorium. If you are able to attend then please be there by 1.15pm.
This will be followed by a wake at GG’s, down Staplers Road, 2 till 5.30 to dance, drink, sing and to celebrate Brian’s life.
Thur 12 Shackleton Trio at the Medina Bookshop, Cowes. 19.00 Booking essential info@medinabookshop.com/ 01983 300044
Fri 13 to Sun 15 Waverley Park Beer, Music, Poetry Festival Fri Red Sqwrl 19.00, Sat Run with the Pineapple 18.00, Sun 13.30 Phil Washington, 14.30 East Cowes Shanty
Fri 13 2nd Time Around at Braai, New Farm, West Lane, Brading, 19.00
Sun 15 The Hooleys at Adgestone Vineyard, 13.00 to 15.00
Fri 20 to Sun 21 Isle of Wight Steampunk Festival, Ryde https://www.iowsteampunkfestival.co.uk/
Fri 20 The Crew at Star Coffee and Alehouse, Ryde, 20.00
Sat 21 Mr Baker’s Dozen celebrate their 25th birthday with other morris sides. Dancing around Newport from 11.00
We say a sad goodbye to Brian Reeves, a leading light in the folk singing, folk dance and morris dance community. His knowledge of folk traditions was extensive. Brian’s book, Folk on Wight, is a treasure trove of information about the folk revival here. As a singer, he performed solo and with many bands, most recently The Watch. Brian called for numerous barn dances and ceilidhs and danced with Men of Wight, Guith Morris and Whitgar. He will be much missed but the memories of good times with singing and dancing will live on. Deepest condolences go to all Brian’s family and friends.
Condolences also go to Glenn and Michelle Koppany and their family and friends on the tragic loss of their son, Chris. Chris was multi-talented. As well as being an artist and prose writer, he performed his own poetry to rapt audiences at folk clubs. One Christmas, he took a leading part in the Isle of Wight mummers play. He was an excellent actor who dealt well with the dialect and made the stage come alive during the fight scenes .
Another post with September’s highlights will follow in a few days.
Some highlights
Big Figgy Gig is at Jubilee Field, Moa Place, Freshwater on Saturday 10th, starting at 12.30., or enjoy Irish music from The Hooleys at Adgestone Vineyard from 1pm
On Saturday 17th, 2nd Time Around (3pm), Sea Gels Shanty Band and Eric and Alan of The Watch (6.30) shiver a few timbers at The Spyglass Inn as part of Ventnor Pirate Festival, See Events for updates.
On the afternoon of Sun 18 The Crew entertain at Dell Cafe , Puckpool
2nd Time Around play at the Havenstreet Steam Fair on Friday 23 and Saturday 24th
Sat 31 Lucid at Brown’s Golf Course, Sandown, 15.00 to 17.00. Bring chairs, blankets etc. Refreshments available at Brown’s Cafe. Donations welcome.
The Isle of Wight folk music community has lost two much-loved performers this month.
Maureen Shaw
Maureen had many talents. She wrote and performed poetry, especially traditional Irish poetry. Her style was lively and engaging. She loved dancing, performing her Sailor’s Hornpipe before large audiences at the close of each Yarmouth Sea Songs and Shanties Festival. She enjoyed singing with Shalfleet Shanty Singers. Maureen, with her husband Malcolm, regularly supported several folk nights, folk clubs and numerous other events. She was always quick to welcome newcomers and make them feel at home. Her kind encouragement of performers was appreciated by so many.
Maureen’ s happy smile will be so sadly missed. Our deepest condolences go to Malcolm and to all her family.
David A. Ballard
David sadly lost his battle with Parkinson’s this week. He was a keen performer and writer, as recently as the end of June he took part in a show at Quay Arts. David wrote some lovely gentle, thoughtful, introspective songs. He also wrote many funny and down-to earth songs and poems for children. Excerpts from his book ‘ Grandma’s Roller Skates and Other Silly Poems’ always went down very well with children of all ages at folk gatherings!
It is so sad to think that such a talent is now lost. Again, deepest condolences to Hazel and to all David’s family.
Lots to look forward to this month!
All the Ventnor Fringe events are bookable through the Fringe box office, except for free events.
Friday 19 2nd Time Around -House of Cards Ventnor Fringe- at Flowerbrook Inn, 16.00. Tickets £7.50 to £10 https://ventnorexchange.littleboxoffice.com/events/74938?showItems=1https://ventnorexchange.littleboxoffice.com/events/74938?showItems=1
Monday 22 Steve Love and Sea Gels Shanty Band perform at Carnaby’s, opposite to Ventnor main town car park. A FREE Ventnor Fringe event.
From Tuesday 23 to Thursday 25 Andy Roberts presents Boulevard Days at the Pier St. Playhouse, 13.00 to 14.00. Tickets £8-10 from Ventnor Fringe Box Office https://bit.ly/3Wz0pxe
On Friday 26 July, Steve Love is at the Pier Street Playhouse with his Isle of Wight Tour, 13.00 to 14.00 £6 https://ventnorexchange.littleboxoffice.com/events/76549?showItems=1
Sat 27 and Sun 28 ‘Ventnor Vagabonds’ pop up shanty session for Ventnor Fringe, 10.00 to 11.00 in the nest tent in the park, free.
Storytelling – see tistales.org.uk
Also
Medieval Tales – Stories with Harp is at Babushka Books, Shanklin, with storyteller Monty, on Thursday 4th at 7pm. £7, booking essential. 07511 220038/01983 652880
A special event for Pride takes place on Sunday 14. Merry and Gay Folk Club, Bar 74, Union St. Ryde, 17.00 to 19.00. Song and spoken word plus A History of Queer Folk Song. Audience and performers welcome.
And lots more on the Events page.
Re: Folk themed IW Mardi Gras Carnival project for 2025. The exact title has not been chosen yet.
This is a quick alert about a project which could be very useful as a way of interesting younger people in folk culture. IOW Mardi Gras is a big summer parade involving children and young people. As well as the parade, there are workshops and pop-up performances so opportunities for dance, drama, instruments and perhaps song. In addition, there is ‘Merry and Bright’, an illuminated carnival in winter. We don’t have the dates for either yet.
The project director, Hannah Ray, contacted folkonwight (Debbie Wyke and John Bentley) and Steve Baker with a view to picking our brains, she has now asked us to spread the word so that anyone with interest/ideas/skills can offer to get on board. Hannah plans to write up information about the project in the near future, this mail is just a preliminary to get everyone thinking.
John and Debbie plan to use our folk club lists to circulate this, also Facebook, so you may get it more than once. Please forward the mail to anyone who might be interested. Thanks.
The results of our brainstorming of possible items which might be of use is below. We hope you will be able to add more. Hannah seems to be particularly in favour of Isle of Wight connections – eg evidence of early morris revival here and calendar customs
Isle of Wight Mardi Gras – New Carnival
Please look at the website above if you are not familiar with what the events involve. Then, if you have useful information, could teach dances, have more ideas to add to the preliminary brainstorm etc please send an email to folkonwight@aol.co.uk in this format.
Title Re: Folk themed IW Mardi Gras Carnival project
Your name
Your email
Your ideas. How you could help. Information. Photographs etc
Apologies if this all sounds very formal. But it is essential to keep our workload down to a minimum. This format will be easy to share and avoid a lot of retyping. If you can send ideas etc within a couple of weeks that would really help. Thanks in advance as individual replies may not be possible.
Our brainstorming – this is what we thought of so far
Customs recorded or currently or recently practised on the island are marked *
Seasonal customs –
Christmas – Mumming *
Two scripts – 1. from WH Long Dictionary of the IoW Dialect etc.’ The Christmas Boys’
2. Modern version incorporating characters from elsewhere
Descriptions of costume in Long and photograph from Bembridge, 1930s
New Year
Wassailing* Blessing the fruit trees/ Going from house to house asking for donations into the wassail bowl. Either 12th night or 17th January (old 12th night before the calendar changed)
Plough Monday – East Anglian custom, First Monday after 6th January.
Straw bears- Tuesday after Plough Monday. Straw bears traditionally feature in carnivals in Germany
Shroving *- Shrove Tuesday Recorded on the IoW
May Day* Records exist of houses in Newport being decorated with greenery from woods
Men of Wight dance at dawn at The Longstones, also pagan groups
Maypole Dancing – photo from Bonchurch
Pace Egging – Easter
Beating the Bounds* – recorded on the Iow. At Rogationtide – around 25 April
Halloween*
Penny for the Guy – early November
Morris dancing*
Photos of girls in costume popularised by the Esperance Morris dancers show IoW was in forefront of the morris revival. Esperance first performed 1906. Photo is 1915/16, later photo around 1930.
Men of Wight*, Oyster Girls*, Moonshine Border Morris*, Mr Baker’s Dozen* are all active
Traditional dance types– Cotswold morris*, North-west morris*, Border morris*, Molly, Rapper, Longsword*, Maypole, Scottish, Welsh, Great Wishford Faggot, Abbots Bromley, Manx, Hebridean, Step dancing, Clog dancing*
Morris Beasts often accompany the dancers. Men of Wight have a seahorse*. Dragons, horses, bears, chickens, stags, unicorns,eagles etc, etc
Hobby horses are mostly found in the West Country
Sea Shanties* – actions which could be demonstrated.
Capstan eg South Australia
Raising heavy weight/mainsail eg. Blow the man down,
Brake pump eg Leave her Johnny
Pulling weight (stamp and go) Donkey riding, Drunken sailor,
Holystoning deck eg Banks of Newfoundland
Smuggling Should not be glamourised as was illegal
The Parkhurst Boys Young boys convicted of a minor crime were taught a trade and shipped to Australia to work out their sentence there.
Some pictures
An imagined country dance in Brading ‘Brading in times of prosperity’ RW Bloxam (possibly born 1808 Fellow of ? & teacher)
Maypole dancing, Bonchurch, early 1900s?
Morris dancers in Niton, probably 1926.
Mummers -Bembridge about 1906
Local girls in morris costume as popularised by Esperance Morris Dancers. Photo taken after 1906 but probably before 1916.
Winter Wilson
Here are some of the highlights for June.
Winter Wilson are at the Medina Bookshop, Cowes, on Monday 10th at 7pm. £10. Tickets Booking essential BYOB
Storyteller Holly Medland Lees presents ‘Middle Age Crisis’ – stories of drunken monks, wily women and ill-fated deals for 16+ on Thursday 6th. A bargain at only £5 including refreshments at Babushka Books, Shanklin. Booking essential- 07511220038/01983 652880
Enjoy a Barn Dance with The Caulkheads and caller at Camp Hill Clubs, Quarry Hill, Camphill, Newport, PO30 5ZA, 7pm on Friday 7th. Tel 01983 7722796 or chc5c.uk@outlook.com
On Sunday 16th there is a Special Guest Night at Quay Folk Club. A rising young star on the national folk scene, uilleann piper, whistle player and award winning singer Seb Stone is performing, with multi-instrumentalist Dave Godby in support. Quay Arts Centre, 7pm. Drop a donation in the Fez.
Seb Stone
folkonwight 