The thing is about song-writing from my point of view is that you write a song for your own pleasure / amusement or to get something off your chest.
I cannot tell you the amount of pleasure I have had because it has given other people pleasure.
Ralf Weihrauch a well respected singer and musician in Germany wrote (above) in Jan 2000 !!!
On December 23rd 2007 he wrote me a wonderful note asking me if he could record the song.
Naturally I said "Yes", and we exchanged a few Emails which put us on a firm friendship footing.
In one of my Emails ( I was probably a little clumsy ) and enquired how a simple little song from the North of England would transpose into a German "setting / scenario " type of thing.

I hope he doesn't mind me cutting and pasting his reply ........

"I used to listen to a folk show BFBS and kept taping it on cassette. The first version I heard was from Tony Capstick and then I heard Vin Garbutt singing it. I don`t know the Scottish Version you mentioned. The more I managed to understand English accents, the more I got into the song.

My family (Great Grandfather, grandfather and his brothers, my Father and uncles and most of my cousins) worked in the Coal mines here in the Ruhrgebiet. We all lived in houses that were built by the Mining Companies and look pretty much the same as the English ones, though we had the toilets inside.
My father plays the accordeon and played in a dance Band for many years. Quite often on Sundays, coming back from the local football pitch, neighbours sat together in our living room, had a lot of beer and then my father took out the accordeon and they starter singing. That was also the case on birthdays in the neighbourhood and other occasions. The only difference is, that he never brought people back from the pub. We had a sort of kiosk at home and and our Cellar always was full of beer
So your song describes something, which took place in my childhood in a very similar way as well. So you probably understand, why your song touches a string in my heart.
I always understood it as a happy song despite all the sentimental points in it."

Anyway - back to me, to this day I'm amazed how songs can cross borders like that and also go around the world without the hype of the Music Industry and it was truly a great Christmas present in 2007.
I've been very privileged to derive so much pleasure and gain loads of friends from a simple little song and I hope it brings pleasure to all those who sing it - whether you're in tune or not when you sing the chorus!!!
All the best to all.
Betsy