April 3 1958
Behan ballad
DOMINIC BEHAN, (above)an Irish Catholic and author of a great number of street and prison ballads, sang his skiffle cantata to "Christ the Worker" after evening service on Sunday in the Anglican church of the Holy Angels, Cranford, Middlesex.
The words, often in the slang that goes with the modern folk idiom (for example, "Give me the gold, and Jesus is sold"i, were thought up by Dominic and by John Hosted, a Doctor of Science and atomic physicist at London University, who also sang the recitative parts of this attractive cantata.
Catholic interest in the performance was heightened by the fact that the banjo and guitar media for religious
melodies are already popularised by Fr Duval, A similar quick tempo is noticeable in the Anglican Fr Geoffrey Beaumont's "Twentieth Century Folk Mass", which has attracted
some interest among Catholics.
Dominic's own
background is not without a certain glamour like his famous brother, Brendan Behan, author of that remarkable prison play The Quare Fellow, he has spent some time among the IRA and in prison as a consequence of this other enthusiasm. His rebellious streak I found most catching — as catching as his tunes.
Algerian appeal
"THOSE who are truly building up the future are those who remain heroically faithful to the principles of justice anti love, and thereby moderating the storms of unleashed passions, consecrate themselves disinterestedly to the common good".
This was the conclusion of an appeal made last week by the Archbishop of Algiers, the Bishop of Oran and the Bishop of Constantine, speaking for the Hierarchy of Algeria.