Peter, I'm not suggesting for a moment that the Irish pushed their music unfairly. What I am trying to say is that in my experience during the 70s in England instrumental music seemed to usually mean Irish. Maybe that became a self-perpetuating loop - because we were playing Irish music we were perhaps more receptive to Irish bands. I just don't recall the Scottish bands having the same impact, at least not to the extent that their material was picked up in sessions.

English music at that time was largely forgotten and ignored until the English Country Music revival in the mid-70s, but I don't blame the Irish for that. Now English music sessions are widespread, but Irish music remains very popular. There is of course a large Irish diaspora here, and a strong network promoting Irish music and dance through Comhaltas and Irish social clubs, and that feeds into the wider session world and influences players with no personal Irish connections. The Scottish diaspora doesn't seem to have as strong a network, with the possible exception of pipe bands.

That doesn't explain why Scottish music still doesn't seem to have captured the English imagination in the same way. Having said that, Scottish tunes do sometimes get played in the sessions I attend, but I think sessions which are mainly Scottish and which aim to play in a proper Scottish style are comparatively rare in England.