OK...a whole range of responses, from "anything goes" to "don't do it fer chrissakes" with a whole lot more in between - to be expected, I guess. For a few, I guess I will inevitably always fall short, given my experience. All food for thought and learning.

For the record...I'm not into singing as an "exercise in technique" nor "as entertaining with a good tune", though the latter can be a vehicle. I'm more interested in exploring the emotion of a song, what originally inspired it, to some degree reliving it, in the human connection to be found there... I'm struggling here to voice what I mean without sounding pretentious, so maybe I'm not clear enough on this yet. Singing "I am stretched on your grave" is like entering another world, and can be exhausting. And I'm aware this will be for some an argument for me not singing in gaelic!

What Jim C says about choosing Irish songs....interesting, as my own experience is the reverse, that singers choose far more of the up tempo cheerful songs than the slower deeper ones. For myself, I don't choose a song for the lovely tune (though I'm sure that can sometimes be an element), but for the lyrics and feeling. The reason I rarely sing up tempo ones is because I find it physically difficult; it's something I'm starting to work on with a teacher.

Such sweeping assumptions, Big Mick! I haven't gravitated towards Gaelic song because it's "trendy"; I have an instinctive aversion to "New Age" (always have done). And I didn't find them due to being well-known - I found them originally in the homes of Uist people and on recordings of unknown singers. So please don't "pigeonhole" me!

Next time I travel north, I'll be more aware of this issue, and asking people their views....

Sue