Special Sub-Topic: Sing Around the Campfire Click Here To Play: Sing Around the Campfire

In the "Bear Song," when was the branch caught by the author?

On the way back down. "Ahead of me, I saw a tree, A great big tree, Oh glory be! The nearest branch, was ten feet up, I'd have to jump and trust to luck. And so I jumped, into the air, But I missed that branch, a way up there. Now don't you fret, now don't you frown, 'Cause I caught that branch, on the way back down." Used as a repeating song where the song leader sings a line and the group sings it back again, this song has been used from hikes, to chow line entertainment to campfires.

What color does starboard shine in the tune "Barges?"

Green. "Out of my window looking in the night, I can see the barges flickering light. Starboard shines green and port is glowing red, You can see them flickering far ahead." "Barges" can be sung in many different tones from loud and raucous to soft and slow, depending on the mood and the setting of the singing.

When the group is split into several sections and each begin the same song at a different time, the song is called what?

A Round. Rounds have been sung for centuries. The first round most of us learn as children is "Row, Row, Row your boat."

In the song most commonly known as "The Happy Wanderer," what is on the singer's back?

A knapsack. "I love to go a-wandering, Along the mountain track, And as I go, I love to sing, My knapsack on my back." This common hiking song is often sang at a campfire after a long day on the trail.

"Frere Jaques" is a popular camp song that roughly equates to "Are you Dreaming Brother John?" in English.

F. This is often one of the first foreign language songs a young child learns. While usually sung in French, in English the rough translation is "Are you Sleeping, Brother John?"

What stood 90 years on the floor?

My grandfather's clock. "My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf, So it stood ninety years on the floor." The storyline of this song was the clock was received by the family the day the author's grandfather was born and it stopped working the day he died.

What is a song sung at the end of the day called?

Vespers. There are many different songs that can be used for vespers but most traditionally used is Taps. "Day is done, Gone the sun From the lake, From the hills From the sky, All is well Safely rest, God is nigh"

These lyrics would most commonly be sung where? "Morning is here The board is spread Thanks be to God Who gives us bread"

At breakfast. This is specifically a morning grace. Interestingly, most camps traditionally sing a grace before every meal. There are many varied graces and some camps make a practice of never repeat the same grace in a week's camp.

Many of the folk songs of the 60's and 70's are now traditional campfire songs.

T. "Blowin' in the Wind," "Where have all the Flower's Gone?," "Puff the Magic Dragon," "Lemon Tree," and "This Land is Your Land" are just a few of the most popular folk songs from the 60's that are now staples around campfires everywhere in North America.

The purpose of a most closing night campfires is to chose songs that accomplish what emotion?

Make the campers sad to be leaving camp. Many songs have been written just to evoke the emotion of being sad to be leaving camp. I was so good at developing a last night closing campfire, that I have even been able to make the boy's camp cry. If I didn't have the girl's camp crying within the first 15 minutes, I had failed.