The required item of participating it or running 3 campfires, one of which should be outdoors:
So, I have been singing for most of my Guiding story, and since I first declared this badge I have taken part in lots of campfires, I just didn't necessarily record them all.
The unit I'm with had, and still has, a tradition of singing around small fires at a meeting night periodically, so those are some real fires and outdoors. For the other two, I'm going to highlight a specific couple that have meaning for me at the moment.
Like a lot of others, I took part in the WAGGGS Shine the Light campfire during lockdown, there are very few opportunities normally to share like that across all regions and all world centres, so it was certainly an experience.
I also want to highlight the one I ran, you'll see it come up in the other clauses too, about a year ago I found the courage to get up the front on a Saturday night and lead at Foxlease Singing Circle, it was one of the quietest weekends we'd had for a while - for which I was grateful. Whilst that is also covering a lot of my other clauses, please do not underestimate how daunting even a quiet weekend like that can be, there were still 60+ people in the room, many of whom have way more experience than I do at getting in front of groups, and they often refuse in that scenario to actually run/lead a session of any type, even the incredibly informal and friendly Saturday night. For me, that was a significant challenge, I still don't believe I can sing, and even when I think I can, I do not kid myself, I'm chorus and no soloist, so to try and lead those amazing women in song takes some courage. It also seemed to basically go OK, which is reassuring.
1. Develop and maintain a collection of campfire songs. Be aware of copyright. Understand how many songs have been handed down by tradition, and thus words or tunes may vary slightly across the country. Be aware of songs which may cause upset or controversy if used.
I have a wide collection of books by now, ranging from some I've acquired from others that are impossible to buy, to ones that have been produced recently. I have sheets of unpublished songs. I have an extensive collection by now.
Copyright is usually detailed in books, which is helpful, but a number of the songs are old enough that they are not copyrighted either. That means, that I can't distribute songs which are copyrighted, and I shouldn't distribute the settings of songs in the books.
Lots of songs are handed down, or written down from hearing someone else singing it, to the extent that sometimes you get a remembered copy of a recent song that can't be traced, gets published, and later the composer manages to get the correct version of the song published. People remember things differently and will, therefore, gain variations, especially if there are differences in dialects and similar. The general consensus is - the person leading has the final say on how it is sung!
It isn't always easy to avoid controversy, sometimes you learn a song as a fun song, but there is a darkness behind it that isn't necessarily appropriate, or it plays on stereotypes that are inaccurate. Some songs are starting to fall into being frowned upon for others using them in certain situations as cultural appropriation - which I certainly understand, there is something unsettling hearing a song that is part of your culture sung in a different language or by people who are not from the same ethnicity. Sometimes you don't know until it is too late, at which point, apologise, and try to avoid the song next time you are leading - or explain the situation and share the reasoning with others.
2. Run a campfire for a group, to include at least one song from each of the following areas:
- Action songs - Eidelweiss
- Rounds or part songs - Campfires Burning in 5 parts (the 5th part stays silent to get a chance to hear the harmonies)
- Quiet songs - Softly at the fall of day
- Traditional songs - Barges (by now it is traditional!)
- Songs that are new to the group - Robin Ddiog (if it wasn't new it's at least one that is sung very very rarely)
- Non-singing items such as stories, sketches etc - I told the story of the great grey ghost elephant
I actually ran that Saturday night as a fairly formal campfire to make sure I got everything in, I've noted above at least one of the items I included that covers each of those sessions.
3. Be aware of safety at a Campfire. You should pay particular attention to the size of fire, and those responsible for keeping it going. Know what to do if a fire gets out of control, or a camp blanket catches fire.
The scouts have some reasonable instructions for fire safety (https://members.scouts.org.uk/documents/Chubb/redesignedresources/CFS2256%20Building%20Camp%20Fires%20Safely.pdf - accessed 7/6/2020), that are a good start.
One big thing is to make sure you have fire and/or sand available, and multiple buckets of them if the fire will be bigger than a waste paper basket.
I'd also aim to consider turfing if there isn't a formal circle and so that we can put things back as we found the, and to be aware of dry ground, as the heat can travel through dry ground to start a fire in unrelated spot.
A fire should always be kept to a size you can control, that doesn't mean it has to be small - if you have a dedicated circle it can be quite large, just remember the larger the fire the longer it takes to go out. At one event we watched a fire door burn through on a campfire (it had been replaced so was in the wood pile), which was fascinating, but it took a long time.
When leading a campfire, or when attending, the general rule is stay out of the way of the people looking after the fire, it is there's to take care of, and we should leave them to it. I'd also be inclined with a moderate or large number of participants to not have a full circle around the fire of singers, if they are a little more gathered it is easier to lead them, but also it provides somewhere to go if there is a problem. It's also worth remembering that in the dark, if the fire is behind you, then the singers won't be able to see your face, if you are behind a large fire, they won't be able to hear you. There is no easy answer to this, and each campfire is different, and it will depend on a lot of factors on the day.
If the fire gets out of control then it becomes something to fight, not tend. Get the water/sand on it, get the singers away from it, and treat it as wild.
If a camp blanket catches fire there are a few different options, mainly based on what you can do with it. If you can get it off the person easily - do so, then smother the flames, drop it in the bucket of water, whatever it takes. If it's a poncho or you can't seperate person from blanket, stop, drop and roll is going to be the best option. If it is wool, it might just laugh off sparks rather than catch fire, but a synthetic could start to melt - again, get it away from people if you can. You then need to start treating the blanlet owner for any potential burns and shock.
4. Take part in or lead a “formal” campfire, which is structured and follows a programme.
The campfire I lead in June 2019 was formal, and had a full programme, which I now can't find a copy of. Let's just say, I based it heavily on the Let's Sing manual by Guides New Zealand, with some variations for the extra songs, and the little sketches and songs that people were presenting.
Now onto the 4 optional clauses
5. Write a new song to an old tune, and teach it to a group.
It may be a stretch for teaching it, but I have shared a variation on the words to Linger with a few people, and they are below:
I want to linger (at a distance)
Hmmm I want to linger
Hmmm a little longer
Hmmm a little longer here with you
Hmmm though you are far away
Hmmm just recall each day
Hmmm that our friendship ignores miles
Hmmm though not together
Hmmm we are forever
Hmmm still Guiding sisters in our hearts
Hmmm and till we meet again
Hmmm though we know not when
Hmmm just think of me and find a smile
Hmmm I want to linger
Hmmm a little longer
Hmmm a little longer here with you
11. Sing a song in a foreign language.
There are a few songs I can sing in foreign languages, even more if you include Latin or Hebrew as a foreign language. Rosen Fra Fun is an easy one, I have sung Alouette (at the shine the light campfire most recently), Nada te turbe is a nice little Taize chant, Nkosi Sikelel'i Afrika is often sung by the singing circles.
14. Lead a campfire item which relies on rhythm, such as “Rain Storm” or a clapping rhythm.
In that hard-working session I lead in June 2019 I also lead rainstorm, and it worked really well with that number and group of people who actually watch what the leader is doing.
17. Plan a campfire on a particular theme (e.g. animals), using songs, sketches etc.
Giving that June campfire a break (there were more than 40 there, but...) I decided to write a fairly short plan for a campfire on a theme. As it was fairly short I included one little fun spoken verse that could easily be turned into a sketch. The theme is a rainbow, and I actually start with songs that feature the word red, going through to the sketch after a little wind-down and then trailing off into the purple at the end. I've used the shortened names of books that seem to be common with the Foxlease singing circle crowd, most of which are nicknames.
| Colour | Song Title | Book | Page Number | Book | Page Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red/Gold | Tsoona Campfire Opening | Canadian Jubilee | 7 | ||
| Red | Red Balloon | Pax Lodge | 22 | ||
| Orange | Oh I wish I was little Or-i-enge | Memory | |||
| Yellow | The Village Dance | Canadian Jubilee | 21 | ||
| Yellow | Baby Duck | Meet and Sing | 4 | ||
| Red/Yellow/Green | Three Traffic Lights | Scottish | 57 | ||
| Green | Somerset Walking Song | Yellow Chalet | 36 | ||
| Green | That's when I feel like singing | Everybody Sing | 24 | ||
| Five Little Crayons | https://teachingmama.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Screen-Shot-2018-07-23-at-3.10.24-PM.jpg | ||||
| Blue/Green | Come with the evening | Yellow Chalet | 78 | ||
| Blue | The Rover | Yellow Chalet | 47 | ||
| Blue | O hark to the lark | All sorts | 19 | ||
| Blue | Follow the sun | Just for you | 22 | ||
| Blue | This pretty planet | Pax Lodge | 129 | ||
| Blue | Look up to the sky | Sing for Joy | 28 | Songs for tomorrow | 14 |
| Red/Green/Blue | Barges | Yellow Chalet | 21 | Canadian Jubilee | 56 |
| Blue | Land of the Silver Birch | Yellow Chalet | 16 | Canadian Jubilee | 15 |
| Purple | Wild Mountain Thyme | Songs for tomorrow | 21 | ||
| Purple | Hawaiian Fisherman's Song | Songs for tomorrow | 22 |
