John Nolan: thanks for encapsulating my concerns about "Celtic Islands" . . Eileen: The problem with lumping everything under "British Isles" is that there are distinct regional cultures within Britain (and not simply divided as England/Scotland/Wales!) with distinct folk traditions - which, to confuse matters further, have always borrowed heavily and healithly to one another. And Melodeon - while labels aren't the be-all and end-all (especially if one's prime interest is finding good material to play/listen to) they DO help us to understand the social context and histories of the music. And, of course, the other nations within the UK quite understandably get upset at hearing their music described as "English" (and the Irish even more so), while others of us get very irritated at hearing everything from the UK categorised as "Celtic".

G.