Thanks, Steve - I was kind of hoping you might say that.

While we're here (and with apologies for thread drift), do you have any info on the earliest available copies of 'Polly Vaughan' / 'Molly Bawn' (oldest on Bodleian site seem to be Irish), and/or 'Margaret Walker' (aka 'My Parents Treated me Tenderly' or 'The Maid I Left Behind', listed as Roud 262 although there seem to be different songs under that number)? Very grateful if you have anything not in Bodleian.

Also thanks to Richie. Very interesting - I hadn't realised the Hensleys were related to the Sheltons. I've checked p 74 of Betty Smith's book, and she mentions research by Frances Dunham. Do you know anything more about this research? Where did you get the information about Edith Fish? Sharp just describes her as a missionary who was very helpful in locating singers - I'd no idea she was considered a ballad collector herself.

Is the snippet about Olive Campbell visiting Big Laurel from ODC's diary?

I did some work on Maud Karpeles' 1950 diary (all online but online as a series of image files and not searchable) and managed to find out who the various members of the Shelton family were that she heard sing and play that year, including the 'Sugarloaf Sheltons' string band. Can share it, if you're interested.