You know who I blame? I blame the compilers of "The Best of British Folk Music" (Contour, 1972) for including a fairly austere take on "John Barleycorn" as their representative sample of the Young Tradition. I listened to it once, thought "young tradition? blimey, they don't sound very young!" and skipped to something more twangly and palatable, Steve Tilston or Bert Jansch or somebody. If they'd gone for Pretty Nancy of Yarmouth or The Innocent Hare, my teenage listening could have been very different. Maybe.

As it was, although I'm a similar age to Jack B, I never saw Bellamy in action; in fact I'd never even heard of him till, what, five years ago. Even on so short an acquaintance his death feels pretty raw to me - what it must have been like to those who actually knew him I can barely imagine.