055 - Chapter 55

Bob and I got to know a couple called Pauline and Harry in the caravan next to ours in the Lake District, and we became friends. They had seen us move into our caravan, and one had asked the other, “What are they like, can you see them?” The other replied, “Well she looks friendly, but I don’t know about him!” We all laughed about it later. Harry heard me singing while sitting outside our caravan, and they introduced us to music by Eva Cassidy, and played her singing ‘The Brookside’ to us and I was captivated by her voice, and wanted to hear more. Her version of ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ was even better! They also played music for us by a group called Minor Technicality, a brilliant group that played regularly at the Croxdale Folk club, which was held at the time in the Daleside Arms, in Durham where they lived. We began to visit the club, and it opened up for us a whole new circle of friends. I often sang there too.

It was Pauline who organised an annual folk weekend at our caravan site, in the huge barn there. We later moved into another barn, which was cosier, and not so draughty, at a farmhouse further up the road, belonging to Frank, a farmer and his wife Mary, who were wonderful hosts to us all. It was exciting to see our folk musician friends arrive, one after the other. We all brought camping chairs into the barn, and sat in one large circle and a tankard would be passed around; if you didn’t wish to sing, you passed it on to the next person. This was to ensure everyone who wanted to sing got a turn. Some preferred to sit and listen, but what great weekends we had on those Friday and Saturday evenings, each year. Small groups could also be heard singing in each other’s tents and caravans throughout the day too.

I was singing on our decking one Sunday morning, having my quiet time actually, when some of our folk friends joined me and chatted and sang along. Marie Little, a well-known singer in the North-East, was one of them and she suggested we sing the hymn, ‘Be Thou My Vision’ so we did. What a beautiful moment that was!

I’ve already mentioned in chapter 42 about Harry developing Motor Neurone disease and of his need for prayer during his illness, but what I didn’t tell you is that Pauline invited us to sing this very  hymn some years later, at Harry's funeral. When we came together to sing, that same beautiful moment occurred again; we felt such power and emotion as we sang, with instruments and harmonies all blending together as one. The actual words were a testament to Harry strong faith in God before he died.

High King of heaven, Thou heaven's bright Sun,

O grant me its joys, after vict'ry is won;

Irene the lead singer from Prelude was part of that group at the funeral, as was Marie, and Minor Technicality’s Steve and Cath Metcalf, and Garth Hodgson. We recorded our version of it.

Later still Pauline put together an album in Harry’s memory, called ‘Golden Days and Friendly Faces’, to raise funds for MND, and she invited each of the other folk singers she knew, including Bob Fox and Jez Lowe, to submit one song each for it. This hymn, 'Be Thou my Vision', was the final song on the album; its crowning glory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNdaNgZjJjo...

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;

be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,

both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word;

be Thou ever with me and I with Thee, Lord;

be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son,

be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

be Thou my whole armour, be Thou my true might;

be Thou my soul’s shelter, be Thou my strong tow’r,

O raise Thou me heav’nward, great pow’r of my pow’r.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

be Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart,

O high King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, Thou heaven's bright Sun,

O grant me its joys, after vict'ry is won;

Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

still be Thou my vision, O ruler of all.

Having sung only Christian songs for so many years, I hadn’t realised that there were many spiritual themes in the folk songs we heard; such as hope, justice, love and peace. I know that whenever I sang ‘The Brookside’ for example, I was able to imagine Jesus being the one who came, and sat beside me at the brook, with our hearts becoming one.

As a priest I was pleased to be allowed in to visit Mary, Frank’s wife, in Carlisle infirmary after her sudden heart attack, and pray with her. (Mary and Frank being the couple whose barn was used for our annual Folk Evening.) We were all delighted when she made a full recovery.

Our involvement with people ‘not necessarily connected with  church’, particularly those in this folk circle, was rather like attending yet another church running parallel to our own. I suppose this was what NSM ministry was supposed to be like too; coming alongside, and loving others beyond the doors of a church.

The rough sketches of our folk friends as seen in the illustration, were ones I drew at our gatherings, as we all sang. I couldn’t always make out all the lyrics, being slightly deaf then, so I couldn’t always appreciate the story in a song, so sketching was something I enjoyed doing, trying to capture a likeness, as I sat and listened to the music.

The songs we heard often expressed someone’s journey in life, or their passion about some cause. I think the most moving song of all that I heard was one called ‘The Last of the Great Whales, (The Great Leviathan) an Andy Barnes song, which was sung by one of our musicians called Malcolm. It was he who incidentally organised a concert in Mungrisedale village hall one year, so we could invite people in the vicinity along, to appreciate the wide variety of music we all offered.

Two musicians who lved in Keswick also joined us, Michael Ward, and his friend ‘Twilt’, and they formed lasting friendships with our crowd, as a result of those weekends. If we were ever in the Lakes on a Sunday afternoon, we joined Mike and Twilt at the ‘Twa Dogs’ pub in Keswick, for their folk session with local musicians.

All this sounds rather like the early church in Acts of the Apostles, where it says, ‘and more and more were added to their number!’ (Acts 2.47)

The songs we heard were sung from the heart, and the fellowship and friendship we all shared together was quite unique and so joyful. Our sessions together felt relaxed and so right. God was in the midst of us, whether everyone knew it or not.