Henry

I agree that the "Wild Mountain Thyme" keeps on springing up, but I have nowhere seen any information about Jimmy McPeake. Did you post that somewhere?

As to the Hamilton/Tannahill/McPeake authorship, version relationship question, I know as much as most people but chose to leave it aside; as I said. What is more, a claim to copyright can be made by anyone; and often is - and we've had this conversation ad nauseam also. However, when recorded in Belfast in July 1952, Frank McPeake (then aged 67) said "There's a song I heard an old uncle of mine singing years and years ago; it's "WIll you go lassie go"" After singing it he was questioned by Sean O'Boyle as to his source. He said it came from his uncle, a cattle dealer from Monaghan who sang numbers of songs. Frank said that he hadn't remembered the last verse but that he liked it and worked it out on the pipes. Sean O'Boyle suggested to him that it was Scottish.

At that stage, probably the first time it was produced for the admiration of song collectors, Frank made no suggestion that he had written it. Nor was any such claim made when this recording was published on the HMV 10 inch LP "Folk Song Today" or the Prestige "The McPeake Family of Belfast" (There is though an implication that Frank made his own last verse.)

So who made the claim - or is it one of those myths which doesn't gets nailed till we begin thinking?