Photo of ‘little friend’ courtesy of Peter Forbes
The sun is shining againย here in leafy Berkshire. ย The mourners no longer need to huddle for warmth in the crematorium waiting room. ย The cruel winter wind thatย has been whippingย across the chapel entrance is now a gentle breeze. ย Unfortunately, Iโm allergic to tree pollen so itโs not all good news.
Although I amย a secularย funeralย celebrant, Iโmย often asked if a hymn isโallowedโ. ย The most common reason people give for requesting hymns at an essentially non-religious funeral is that they want to sing something. ย And for many people the thought of singing something secular is just too daunting. ย It is possible of course and weโve sung along to Always Look on The Bright Side of Lifeย (works best with two or three extroverts leading the singing from the front);ย Danny Boyย andย the fiendishly difficult Bridgeย Overย Troubled Water amongst others.
By far the mostย commonย hymnย requested by myย clientsย isย All Things Bright & Beautifulย closely followed byย Morning Has Broken. ย A love of nature andgardeningย orย a desire to have something that โisnโt too depressing or sombreโย areย ย the usual reasons given.
One brave family whose lateย mother adored her garden asked ifย we could sing,ย Inย Anย English Country Garden. ย They didnโt want a choir and all the versions recorded with vocals were either unsuitable orย tricky to sing along to. ย So we optedย forย an instrumental version recorded by the Albion Song Society. ย To my surprise and delight it went remarkably well. ย With a little practice (at home with an understanding friend) to get the timing right, we discovered that itโsย easier to sing than All Things Bright & Beautiful.ย ย If any celebrants or choirs out there would like to give it a go, here are the words:
Percy Graingerโsย Anย English Country Garden
How many kinds of sweet flowers grow
In an English country garden?
We’ll tell you now of some buy cialis via paypal that we know
Those we miss you’ll surely pardon
Daffodils, heart’s ease and phlox
Meadowsweet and lady smocks
Gentian,ย lupinย and tall hollyhocks
Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, forget-me-nots
In an English country garden.
How many insects come here and go
In an English country garden?
We’ll tell you now of some that we know
Those we miss you’ll surely pardon
Fireflies, moths, and bees
Spiders climbing in the trees
Butterflies drift in the gentle breeze
There are snails, ants that sting
And other creeping things
In an English country garden.
How many songbirds fly to and fro
In an English country garden?
We’ll tell you now of some that we know
Thoseย we miss you’ll surely pardon
Blackbird, cuckoo and quail
Robin and turtle dove
Bluetit, lark, thrush and nightingale
Thereย is joy in the spring
When the birds begin to sing
In an English country garden.
For those gardeners who would prefer a little more realism, thereโs this versionย ofย All Things Bright & Beautiful:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all.
But what we never mention
Though gardeners know itโs true
Is when he made theย goodies
He made the baddies too
All things spray and swattable
Disasters great and small
All things paraquattable
The Lord God made them all
The fungus on the goose-gogs
The club root on the greens
The slugs that eat the lettuce
And chew the aubergines
All things spray…
The drought that kills the fuchsias
The frost that nips the buds
The rain that drowns the seedlings
The blight that hits the spuds
All things spray…
The midges and mosquitoes
The nettles and the weeds
The pigeons in the green stuff
The sparrows on the seeds
All things spray…
The fly that gets the carrots
The wasp that eat the plums
How black the gardenerโs outlook
Though green may be his thumbs
All things spray…
But still we gardeners labour
Midst vegetables and flowers
And pray what hits our neighbours
Will somehow bypass ours
All things spray…
ย
ย
Fantastic, Belinda! One for my folder of goodies. Do you know who wrote it?
Sorry Sweetpea – I don’t know who wrote it. I found it on t’internet, on a gardening site!
Isn’t ‘little friend’ so cute! Clever Mr Forbes. Thank you thank you for the alternative ATB&B – that’s going straight in the ‘alternative words’ folder along with that ‘My favourite things’ song… ๐
Next time you do this I would definitely like to watch (and listen) please Belinda.
How do you avoid looking like Joyce Grenfell? ๐ Or doesn’t it matter!
David – I would love to sing it again and you’re welcome to watch! A certain assistant manager tried to listen in from the CCTV room but I moved away from the microphone so he couldn’t hear me!