VIDEO: Singalong songs delight at accordion fundraiser

All at Sea was the theme for Accordions at St Nics 3, organised by Helen and Ian Swyer and featuring the Horsham Accordion Band.

The title was chosen as the tunes had seafaring links but Ian admitted it was appropriate for other reasons.

“In the course of organising it, at times it was all at sea, and when I was learning this tune, I was all at sea,” he revealed before playing Fear a’ Bhàta, a Scottish love song from 1860.

An audience of around 40 people enjoyed a jolly evening and most sang along in the second half, having been provided with a song sheet.

Helen and Ian Swyer set the ball rolling with a few tunes on their own and there was much amusement when a colourful toy parrot, dangling on a string, appeared over their shoulders for The Trumpet Hornpipe, the theme tune from Captain Pugwash.

Horsham Accordion Band finished the first half with songs like Stranger on the Shore, which had people humming along, and La Mer.

Ian explained the instruments’ coupler and that accordions have two to four reeds but the group was mainly using four-reed instruments.

The second half was again opened by Ian and Helen before Horsham Accordion Band played a rousing rendition of He’s a Pirate from the film Pirates of the Carribbean and Wonderful, Wonderful Cophenhagen from the film Hans Christian Andersen film.

The band then led the singalong, featuring tunes such as I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside and White Cliffs of Dover.

Leaving Liverpool became Leaving Shoreham, with the person bound for Bognor rather than California.

There was a rousing finale with Rule, Britannia!, although we rather struggled to fit the words from the verse to the tune! Obviously, it is the chorus which everyone knows so well but, nevertheless, the audience made a fair attempt to keep up with the rest.