Liam's brother sings a fine "Banks of Newfoundland" on his Irish Ballads and Songs of the Sea CD (Folk-Legacy, of course, since this is me posting this note). But another ballad of the same title, but with a different story altogether is sung by Ian Robb on our The Barley Grain for Me. Ian's song tells of a stranded crew on an ice-bound vessel reaching such a point of starvation that they draw straws as to which of them will provide meat for the rest. The captain's son gets the short straw, but the crew decides to wait until the next day, just in case. Just in the nick of time, as they say, a vessel arrives to rescue the lot of them, son included. Whew! Close call for all. Powerful ballad, powerfully sung by one of the best ballad singers in North America.

If you're a Brit, read the above sentences as if the word crew were a plural and drop the following "s" where it seems inappropriate to you. Thanks.

Sandy (Folk-Legacy's resident folk fogey)