Sorry can't help you Jim, but I must say reading this complete thread has helped me waste most of a Sunday afternoon. Glad to see there were plenty of people talking sense as well as those who weren't: honorable mention to Malcolm Douglas, Greg Stephens and the person putting everyone right about the Blencathra hunt.

Keith Gregson wrote about the evolution of the song D'ye ken John Peel in 'English Dance & Song' magazine in 1978, focusing particularly on the evolution of the tune - with examples.

I have also written an article on the origins and evolution of the song for a more general audience, with lots of pictures and rather more of a focus on the PEOPLE involved. It will be in the next issue of 'Yesterday' magazine, published by CN Magazines in Cumbria - the history and heritage-led sister magazine of 'Cumbria Life' magazine. This will be out in a couple of weeks time. Here's a link: www.cumbrialife.co.uk/Yesterday/ - but details won't be up there until end Feb.

When I was in the Ellen Valley Band we did medley of three of the versions of the tune: Bonnie Annie/Metcalfe's version of it/National Song Book version (which everyone knows today) on our first album.

Like thousands of other Cumbrians - and Mudcatters - I am also related to Peel: he was my 5xgreat uncle. However, my great grandmother used to say that she didn't know why everyone made such a fuss about John Peel as he was 'nobbut a ne'er-do-well and an owld drunkard'!