Singer Brian Dewan Entertains a Crowd at Ft. Allen Park on Munjoy Hill on Memorial Day 2022.

Some of the Audience at Ft. Allen Park for the Dewan Concert Under Bright Blue Skies and a Gentle Cooling Breeze.

Singer Brian Dewan, a talented baritone with a winning way, delighted a Memorial Day crowd on Munjoy HIll with a medley of songs featuring an agricultural and sea chanty bent to them.  Songs from a songbook he owns included:  “The Hands That Hold the Bread,” and “Don’t Mortgage the Farm.”   They introduced the l l/2 hour concert under bright blue skies and a gentle breeze that earlier in the day had raised concerns of a wash-out of the oudtdoor event.

As the concert proceeded, the songs became increasingly humorous to the enjoyment of the crowd.  One that hit close to home, was a sea chanty written by a lobsterman from Monhegan Island.  “Pour Me Some Rum,” was his lament. If his lobster traps didn’t fill up soon, he could be found on the floor of a bar with the request to “Pour Me Some Rum.” Another sea chanty detailed the sinking of the USS Cumberland by the Merrimac in 1862.  Dewan ended his concert with “The Squid Jiggers” a song from Newfoundland that he said was written around 1920.  It was in contrast to the others that were mostly a century old. Dewan received a standing ovation.

A graduate of Oberlin College, Dewan is from Catskill, New York.  He will be performing at Lincoln Center next month, a place in which he has performed on previous occasions.

Minutes past 3:00 pm. local historian Herb Adams led the audience in a Moment of Silence to reflect on the sacrifices of our military for our freedom in past wars and conflicts.  “”There is so much to see that is unseen here,”  Adams said.  Adams, a history professor at Southern Maine Community College, said that the Park had been named for Master Commandant William Henry Allen, a naval officer mortally wounded in the War of 1812.

Adams noted that May 30,  marked the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was completed in 1922.  Ironically, only one black person spoke at its dedication because of segregation.  “The symbolism is so heavy.  It symbolizes what has been done and what yet remains to be done,” Adams said.

For more background information, please visit post dated May 29, 2022 herein.