You're right Declan, it is boring.Those little Ossian song books that evrybody has are very rightly entitled "Folksongs and ballads popular in Ireland"...and it would be better if people remembered that.It doesnt say "Irish Folksongs".It's bloody lovely when songs move around the world and get adopted and changed andshared, and who coud object to that. But you must also understand that people will also get amused, or niggled, or both if a pattern develops of attributing certain musical itmems or forms to "Irish origin" when they clearly aren't( or if it's a moot point). "Any old Iron"and "Lish young buy-a-broom" have been raised as obvious examples in recent postings.
WThey are bound to make hackles rise if you call them "Irish", just as it would be plain ludicrous to go round calling "Spancil Hill" or "The

Flower of Scotland" English folksongs.
Thehistory of traditional music in Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland is a glorious mix ofpromiscuous borrowings and changing, and long may it continue. If lef to musicians it would chug along fine, but unfortunately contentious chauvinistic historians sometimes get a little predatory and then the feathers start to fly.AnwayI promise not to use phrases like "The Irish". In future, I will be very careful and only say "some Irish came and stole St Patrick from us, but the respectable law-abiding majority weren't responsible". I look forward to a reciprocal deal, and no more remarks about "the English" or "the Cornish" or "the Scottish" or "the Welsh". In fact, no rude remarks about anybody would be a grand Mudcat rule, but I might be being a bit optimistic.