If anyone's posted this before my apologies; George Courtauld was a Queens Messenger who published three volumes of diaries. He's a Daily Mail Tory and the last person on earth to be a folkie so imagine my suprise on reading this..(I collect diaries, even those of Daily Mail type Tories..sorry, it's a weakness I know)

Excerpts from "The last travels of a Fat Bulldog" George Courtauld. Constable. 2000.

It's December 1997 and he's in a nightclub in Ulaan Baatar A sing around begins..
"Someone hands out sheets of paper upon which are typed the words of the choruses which will be sung during the evening.
The bearded man sings a lot...a Scot keens "Wont you gang to the Hielands Lady Lindsay?"

etc ..the evening progresses and he gets quite pissed...

"things are getting blurry and the singing and conversation are merging into a babble and everyone is singing and talking at once:
So away away with the rum by gum....that's the song of the Salvation Army"

Then he rambles on a bit before suddenly quoting

"Ah for just one time I would take the North-West passage
To find the hand of Franklyn reaching for the Beaufort sea
Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage
And make a North-West passage to the sea"

Then he rambles again before

"Now, have you heard this one?

Rise again, rise again, tho' your heart it be broken and life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love a friend,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!"

I bet the bearded man who sang a lot had something to do with all this but I love the thought of Stan's work having penetrated as far as a night club in Mongolia. There's hope for one and all.
Merry whatever and a Happy New whatsit to 'e all!