TheBanyanTree: Last night at Bentley's

[Mike Pingleton]

Wednesday night is trad Irish music night at Bentley's, and after
supper I went down there to hear the music, sip a stout or two and
support my friend Tracey.  I can remember when Tracey picked up a
mandolin at a garage sale 7-8 years ago, and he's come a long way on
the instrument since then, along with the guitar and the tenor banjo.

The musicians sit in a circle on one side of the bar, and there was a
full complement last night - three fiddles, three mandolins, an
accordion, two concertinas, a guitar, a snare drum, a bodhran, a tin
whistle, a wood whistle, and a retired New York City policeman with
two drumsticks.  The retired policeman was visiting family in the
area, and had played drums for many years in NYC Irish bands.  He sat
at my table and played snare patterns on a beer coaster, to great
effect.  Around the circle, each player picked a tune to play in turn.
 I recognized a handful of the reels, jigs, slip-jigs and hornpipes -
Star of the County Down, Old Hag Ye Have Killed Me, and so forth, but
most of the tunes were beyond my limited knowledge.

A drunk guy at the bar kept shouting out at the players.  "Wild
Rover!"  After a while the accordion player said "Okay, Wild Rover it
is!  We'll play it, friend, and you'll sing it!"

"I can't remember the words!" said the drunk guy.

I don't know the words to many Irish songs, but I knew that one, so I
sang Wild Rover.  The wooden whistle player sang with me.

 I've been a wild rover for many a year
 and I've spent all my money on whiskey and beer
 now I'm returning with gold in great store
 but I never will play the wild rover no more....

I've no great voice but I'm loud and willing, which is all you need
for a pub song like Wild Rover, and it allowed me to shift from
audience to participant.

The circle broke up around ten thirty.  I bade the band good night,
and one of the squeeze-box players said "come back and sing for us
again some time."  I'm their man, if it's Wild Rover they want!