Somebody I'd never seen before came into Sandy Bell's last Sunday and sang Bottle of the Best, but that's the first beer-related song I've heard in a traditional music venue for years. (I believe they're commoner in England).

You only have to correlate the age of the clientele in a pub with the fittings on the counter to see the pattern. Beer is declining in popularity and a close association with it does the folk scene no good at all.