Jeff D: Thanks for expressing my thoughts more coherently and with greater patience than I could muster. DickG: Well, in the UK at least "folk" is the antithesis of a marketing buzz word . . no marketing person would let it within 100miles of his music promotion.

More generally, Ian Telfer (Oyster Band's token Scot - and he'd know better than to take that remark seriously) recently wrote an excellent article disassembling the celtic myth - originally for the OB fanzine but reprinted in the last Folk Roots. So, Paddy, I'll ask again; what, in your opinion, are the Celtic isles. And - as others have pointed out - Folk musicians from all parts of the islands in the west of Europe seem to share my objections to the "C" word!

And in case I'm giving the wrong message; yes, I do see the problem over the original classification . . and don't see a ready solution. Possibly having headings for England and Scotland with it listed under both?

Of course, with Child triggering this discussion about different strands in the traditions, it's worth remembering that a lot of the scholarship within the Child collections is that of describing just how widely distributed - well beyond the British Isles and Ireland - the legends carried by the Ballads can be found.

G.