hey dulcimer, this same thing was coming up on the RUS thread and as you probably know, the great tradition of dulcimer building {either Hmd. or Mtn.} says to be non-traditional is the tradition. If folk songs tell a history, then that history needs to be accurate in the context of the time period. PC shouldn't enter into it...and yet it does. This has become a real problem in school courses. Trying to be PC and whatever centered in history courses dilutes history and the many worthwhile, enlightening people who lived in THEIR times...NOT OURS! The pendulum has swung too far and our efforts to be PC have changed the history to be less offensive and give self-esteem to others. I suppose that's to be expected as all history is philosophy and told from a subjective point of view. Maybe Ambrose Bierce was right and History is "an account, mostly false; of events, mostly unimportant; brought about by Rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. catspaw49