Maybe some songs simply need to be rested. When I sang "Martin Said to his Man" I found that there were people in folk club audiences who had never heard it before. And were glad to hear it for the very first time.

One song that really irritates me though is "The Black Velvet Band". I am taking guitar lessons and the teacher plays blues, not folk. He just loves "The Black Velvet Band" and we keep playing it. I am sure it was a good song, about 30-40 years ago when the Dubliners used to play it. Still is a good song really, but it will definitely NOT be going into my repertoire.

We have a singer who sings "The Wild Rover" at the folk clubs. He's a pleasant chap and he sings it well. We all do try to join in with him. But no, this won't be going in to my repertoire either.

"Shoals of herring" is a good song. I'm not saying it would be at the top of my list, but I wouldn't object to singing it - probably after several dozen others though.