David: quite agree that this is an outstanding CD, one that takes you back to an earlier folk age of which Maddy Prior, of course, was also part. And this effect was quite deliberate - Maddy wrote in the notes:

"This album is in many ways a return and revisiting of songs that first engaged me. I have always found the tradition of English lyrical and pastoral ballads an area of sweet melancholy...."

For Maddy fans who may have missed an earlier thread, there is a bit more on the album in my own review at Salut! Live. The comments section has a collection of marvellous anecdotes about Maddy and the Steeleye, which were given my Mudcatters & others in response to a small competition I ran for free copies.