Yarrambat Memorial

On 5th April 2016 our Côr Bach (small choir) took part in a celebration of the life of proud Welshman Arthur “Ossie” Hollister in Yarrambat.

We started off the ceremony by singing Myfanwy, the archetypal Welsh love song (whose name means my beloved) which we sang unaccompanied, followed by Tom Jones’ 1966 No.1 hit Green Green Grass of Home, with a solo by baritone Roger Bartlett.

After hearing in the eulogy that Ossie had been a coal miner, we added, impromptu, Working Man, Rita MacNeil’s epic song of the mines, before singing You’ll Never Walk Alone from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (which has since become the Liverpool Football Club anthem). 

Then, while those present were watching scenes from Ossie’s life on screen, we sang two songs which epitomise Wales: the iconic We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Hillsides, and finally Sunset Poem, the Reverend Eli Jenkins’ blessing on the village of Llareggub from Dylan Thomas’ classic play Under Milk Wood (also unaccompanied).

We were very happy to have been able to make this contribution to the celebration of Ossie’s life.