Whew!! That's alot. Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions.

Malcolm, you had it right. And I guess I should hve been even MORE clear; we are not singing in Irish. This is a REALLY small, local session. All the attendees (audience and musicians) are Irish-American, if that. Only a couple really old men, who rarely show up, sing in the sean nos style. Most people are not concerned with authenticity. The audience pays attention to almost every song, but this is NOT a concert--no one is mic'd, no one is a star, quite a few are beginners. It's real loose. What my friend and I would like to do is inject a bit of the opposite--a little authenticity, a little more emphasis on the vocals, a little estrogen (whatever that means). Just a teensy bit more earnest. English songs are fine, as long as they aren't announced as such. So are Scottish songs. Singing a capella only works if you WARN the musicians NOT to play along--it's only been done once, when I sang Foggy Dew last week, but it dampens the mood. My friend accompanies herself on guitar, but she has a beautiful and different style than the other players. I guess what I'm saying is that there are few rules at this session.

Yes, Peg and Martin, we ideally want to learn from recordings, but you only know what you know. That was the impetus for the orignal query. Ainé, I certainly respect the tradition. If it seems otherwise, because of my inaccuracies, it's just that my brain is a sieve. My friend Margaret is the musician, and the archiver of all the stuff, not me. Believe me, we do our homework. Brigid, sure, send on the words!

Thanks again everybody.