> 'chips & fish' is unidiomatic ~~ I think this was deliberately the intention of the original author, to make the song memorable by a semantic & syntactical departure from normal expectations. <

Also, it rhymes better with 'dish'!

When in the USA I've been known to introduce the song by explaining that what we call 'chips' are what they call 'Freedom Fries' - but perhaps they've stopped doing that, now that Sarkozy has proved himself a hawk over Libya.

Re the 'shawls and clogs', they do represent a sepia photograph these days, but it's a nostalgic picture that I rather like - and an opportunity to explain a little about the leisure habits of workers in the Lancashire cotton industry. Nice idea, though, Al.

Must talk to Dave Sealey about this sometime.