Nick Dow wrote: Thanks, Robert. We seem to be thinking along the same lines. It harks back to your comment about scholarship and the truth. Uncomfortable questioning, after years of blind faith. Look forward to your next post if you have any more thoughts.

It occurs to me that someone should look through the recordings and reminiscences of Mary Brooksbank. If anyone would have known, she would have!

The problem with industrial song is... who would take it down? The collectors didn't spend much time in Manchester or Leeds, and Respectable Citizens wouldn't hear them singing the way they would hear sailors sing shanties. It makes some sense that certain industrial workers would have songs to help them, but how would we learn about them?