The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #132312   Message #2994606
Posted By: raymond greenoaken
27-Sep-10 - 01:28 PM
Thread Name: Boring, Bleating Old Traddy (Peter Bellamy)
Subject: RE: Boring, Bleating Old Traddy (Peter Bellamy)
Somebody may contradict me on this, but I think his "right wing stance" is a canard. Fact is, he wasn't a left winger, which in many people's minds places him at the opposite end of the spectrum. Where else would he be? I got a strong impression that he was essentially apolitical, and that his views on the various issues of the day did not add up to an easily identifiable position (or stance). But he enjoyed winding up lefties, even though (perhaps especially because) his best friends on the folk scene were all of the left. And he told me the best Margaret Thatcher joke I've ever heard.

As for Kipling, the best of his work effortlessly transcends his politics; some of it even contradicts his politics. Life can get complicated...