Tuesday 16 October 2012

Oddfellows: Monday Night at Nine (15.10.12)



I was at Oddfellows last night (being something of a regular). Another good night, despite the absence of John Howarth and a few of the other stalwarts. Rioghnach Connolly - young in physical years, but of course age has no meaning for a voice like hers - dropped in, and Donal Maguire was there too. Personally, I think Donal Maguire is the finest Irish traditional singer in the land. 

Anyway, a girl from the next room, that part of the bar that serves as an active shrine to Manchester City FC, listened at the door for a while and then asked if anyone knew the song about the nightingales. She meant 'The Nightingales Sing', which the group promptly struck up, and Donal, who knew the words, carried the song with the girl aiding on the chorus. 

It was a beautiful instance of two worlds colliding. Then, perhaps overdoing it, she asked if we knew the one about the mother knifing her baby in the neck. 

"You mean Brookside," said the Oddie next to me, and instantly the established order reasserted itself. 

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