"Betsy Whyte at a performance in Kilmarnock folk club in the early 80s"
A similar thing happened to Willie McPhee at the Singers Club in the 1980s.
Singers and storytellers were constantly adapting songs and stories to suit the prevailing circumstances.
We recorded 2 versions of The True Lover's Discussion (a song describing a religious discussion between two lovers)
Martin Reidy sang a 15 minute version of it in his home, yet, when asked for it at a singing session, he cut at least five minutes from it - he happily agreed to sing it in full when people who knew it requested him to.
WE recorded the song from his neighbour, Tom Lenihan - his lasted a little over five minutes.
When we asked Tom where he learned it, he replied, "from Martin - but his is far too long to sing in public".
Yet some storytellers would not adapt their stories - they would rather not tell them
Collector, Tom Munnelly told of his experience when he was recording an Irish speaking storyteller (Tom always said his Irish was not great)
The man refused to be recorded until they had had a drink, so the both adjourned to a bar over the road.
When they returned after a few pints, they sat down in front of a roaring fire and the teller launched into a two-hour story (in Irish).
By the time he was reaching the end, Tom was dozing off and the teller was pretty exhausted.
He got to the last run of the tale, where the hero dismisses his three animal helpers one by one - and he stopped; "I have that wrong - I'll start again" (he had dismissed the animals in the wrong order)
Tom hastily arranged to come back at a later date.
It seems to depend on the singer/storyteller and the circumstances
Jim Carroll