Here's the report from our last meeting at Liar's Bench while the Press Room is undergoing renovations. I asked Dagan whether our stay could be extended into September and he declined. I'm grateful he gave us a port in a storm for June, July, and August.

The crew - Me, Dianne, Don Hale, April & Eric, Gail (& Jim arrived just before we had to shut down), Bill & Carol, and W.B. and his father.

What we sang -
1. Cannery Shed - Linn
2. Crossing the Bar - Dianne as a tribute to Heather Heyer
3. Black Ball Line - Don
4. Backside of Nantucket Point - Linn
5. Roll, Boys, Roll! April
6. Connemara Cradle Song - Gail
7. Darby Ram - Eric (a third version; one I've not heard before)
8. Martin Said to His Men - Dianne
9. Greenland Whale Fisheries - Don (the version he found from the journal of the whaleship Bengal)
10. Hoist the Colors - April (from one of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies)
11. Knickerbocker Line - Linn
12. No Hopers, Jokers & Rogues - Eric & April
13. Fiddler's Green - Gail
14. Rosabella - Dianne
15. Sail O Believer - Don
16. Man Who Waters the Workers' Beer - Linn
And I promised to pass on the recipe for "Indian Whiskey" which you will find at the end of this list.
17. General Taylor - Dianne
18. Sloop John A [Les Barker]
19. Fareweel Tae Tarwaithie - Don
20. Battle of Lake Erie - Gail (her daughter Emily is right now on the Brig Niagara in the Great Lakes)
21.South Australia - Jim
22. The Sailor Loves His Bottle-O/So Early In the Morning - April
23. Whiskey-O, Johnny-O - Linn
24. Bye Bye, My Roseanna - Dianne
25. Rolling To Cairo Town/Roustabout Song - Don
26. Sailor's Prayer [Tom Lewis] - Linn

And then Dagan, who probably forgot he'd agreed to 2:30-5:30, cut us off a couple minutes after 5:00 with no time for our traditional closer.

As usual, please let me know of any additions or corrections. Thanks, everyone, for coming! I'll keep you posted as to any new developments or when we can resume meeting at The Press Room.

And here's the recipe -- which includes strychnine same as the above song -- for "Indian Whisky":

(From We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher by E.C. Abbott ("Teddy Blue") and Helena Huntington Smith, University of Oklahoma Press, 1939 by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. New edition, 1955.)

"Now I'll give you the recipe for Indian whisky, that was invented by the Missouri River traders in the early days. You take one barrel of Missouri River water and two gallons of alcohol. Then you add two ounces of strychnine to make them crazy – because strychnine is the greatest stimulant in the world – and add three plugs of tobacco to make them sick – because an Indian wouldn't figure it was whisky unless it made him sick – and five bars of soap to give it a bead, and half a pound of red pepper, and then you put in some sagebrush and boil it until it's brown. Strain this into a barrel and you've got your Indian whisky, that one bottle calls for one buffalo robe, and when the Indian got drunk it was two robes. And that's how some of the traders made their fortune."