Gavin Grieg published Last Leaves of Aberdeenshire Ballads many years ago. Since then, Hamish Henderson has recorded over 1100 hours of traditional balladry in Aberdeen. Sort of like reports of Mark Twain's death.

A few years ago, working with a collecting project in Waterbury, Connecticut, Jeremy Brecher recorded a great ballad titled "Scoville's Rolling Mills" from former Congressman Monaghan. It tells of an Irish immigrant coming to work in the brass industry in Waterbury and having his health destroyed by working over the "pickle tub" (acid bath). He returns to Ireland to die. I'll post the text later, when I have time to dig it out of our files. Monaghan, by the way, is the father-in-law of John McCutcheon.

Also in Waterbury, we recorded much fine music in various African-American churches, especially during Wednesday night hymn sings attended mostly by older members of the congregations. They seemed still to prefer the older, more traditional gospel songs. We also visited recreation rooms in subsidized housing for the elderly, found Italian mandolin players and songsters, etc.

Sandy Ives has been recording old loggers in the good old state of Maine for over forty years, and can still find a few who who love and retain the old-time woods ballads. I found Abe Trivett in Tennessee simply by asking "Who sings the old love songs around here?" at a crossroads general store in the mountains of East Tennessee. "Goshamighty," I was told, "Y'oughta go see Abe Trivett!" Abe gave me Child ballads, traditional love songs, humorous ditties, and a few original satirical pieces of his own. Dandy stuff!

Don't despair, Joe. There are a lot of singers out there. Perhaps even easier to find, here in the northeast, are traditional fiddlers. I'll bet you could go up around Fort Bragg (where an uncle of mine from the Ozarks went to contribute to the destruction of the redwoods and took his Ozark logging crew with him) and find oldtimers who still remember songs from their parents and grandparents. Jim Ringer came from an "Arkie" family in Fresno, dustbowl refugees, and many of his songs were learned from family members there. Bet there are more, if you can spend some time looking. Retiring in October, are you? Give it a go. It won't be as easy as we found it to be in Scotland, where almost everyone we met insisted "Oh, I'm no' a singer, but I can gie ye a sang!"

Sandy Sandy