The theme of Solstice Shorts writing competition was TIME, but we got a lot of entries about DEATH, and you can see why, it is logical – the end of time, to cease upon the midnight and all that – and the fact that the competition ended on Halloween may have influenced that too. Tannith Perry‘s Death and Other Rituals  was one of the liveliest ‘death’ stories, read impeccably by the talented Ms Katy Darby.

Now, then appropriate songs for this story – all that stuff about tradition and rituals leads in a very straight line to two songs from Rosemary Lippard, and two songs that ooze traditional attitudes to death.

The Unquiet Grave (which has the added bonus of the time-themed Twelve Month and a Day trope  and a tune by Maz O’Connor)

http://youtu.be/XjgZS1bn3N4

and Death & The Lady

http://youtu.be/Fkc1MOpXohI

You get all three of our signers today, so herewith the disclaimer: We should have let them rehearse with the performers. I thnk they all did a splendid job anyway (and yes, I do sign enough to know how accurate they are, but being professionals they wanted to be beautiful and elegant as well as accurate.)