I have been mischievously called "Boab Forgetthewords"! I have a mate in Northumberland who, having been castigated [big word!] for singing with his eyes closed, swears that when he loses the words, it is because an imaginary tickertape which passes continually before him has broken. Another old pal in the same town carries his famous wee book with him to every session, and uses it too.[Mind you, I sometimes wish Colin would lose those lyrics for "Dicey Riley"!] No shame in using a hand-held "prompt". And, by the way, the "finger in the ear" isn't always a pretentious gimmick; many unaccompanied balladeers and shantymen find that this device allows them to get an "immediate echo" of their own performance, and thus seems to improve both confidence and delivery; not for me though.