In praise of the peasant poet
Francis Sedgemore, Sunday 21 June 2009
Happy summer solstice!
Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats – what a bunch of ponces. Or at least they were in comparison with the peasant poet John Clare, who really suffered for his art, and was celebrated in song last night by Faversham’s finest, Chris Wood, at a tiny pub in Cowden Pound.
It was an intimate folk club setting, with a couple of dozen punters watching Chris perform three short sets interspersed with their own songs and tunes. All washed down with hoppy Adnams bitter and a few sausage rolls. A wonderful evening.
Chris agreed to a request for my favourite love song, One in a million, which he co-wrote with Hugh Lupton. Very emotional.
Just a couple of hours after returning to the ranch it was time to ascend Shooters Hill with a few friends and watch the sunrise on the longest day of the year. Clouds obscured the disk as it rose over Essex across the River Thames, but the light was nonetheless fantastic, and the birds whooped with joy as they spun around the sky over Shrewsbury Park.
Feed the writer! 
Sunday 21 June 2009 at 10:04 UTC
What a fantastic evening, night and morning. But surely the only thing to drink in Fav is Shepherd Neame Masterbrew?
Sunday 21 June 2009 at 12:42 UTC
Ah, but we weren’t in Fav. ’Twas Cowden Pound, on the border of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Chris enjoyed his Adnams, despite hailing from the home of Shepherd Neame ale.
Sunday 21 June 2009 at 13:58 UTC
[...] of the songs performed last night by Chris Wood in Cowden Pound was born of the Darwin Song Project. Here, eight writers were holed up for a week [...]
Monday 22 June 2009 at 06:50 UTC
Delightful. I must revisit the poetry of John Clare – just finished reading W. H. Davies, another autodidact and interesting chap.