Dick wrote (re 'Banks of the Sweeet Vile Dee'): "what makes it sound irish? the tune? what mode is the tune in? and what proof is there that this mode is exclusively irish? is the tune in the dorian mode?"

I haven't subjected it to high-level analysis, Dick. I think it's hexatonic Dorian/Aeolian, but I haven't written it out so I might be mistaken. But in any case the mode would tell us little - English tradition has plenty of tunes in Dorian mode, not least Marina Russell's wonderful 'Demon Lover' tune.

When I said "it sounds Irish", I meant it partly intuitively, partly because it reminded me of other tunes from Irish tradition, and partly because - despite the singer's previous residence in North America - it bore little or no resemblance to American versions of 'Demon Lover'. Incidentally, the Marina Russell DL tune has rather more in common with the American models than Prof. Bronson would have us believe.