I have just received a tape of the original recording made in 1934 of Polish songs collected by Flanders and Barry. I'm sure the engineers at the Library of Congress did all they could, but the quality is very poor.In fact, if you played it for a crowd that didn't gives a hoot about the history of the ballad there would be a lot of stiffled laughter. Unfortunately,in those days not all of the old field recordings were routinely re-recorded as the better machines came along. Fortunately, for this idealistic little project, Phillips Barry and Helen Hartness Flanders did manage to collect the lyrics in Polish. That is enough to see whether people in Warsaw in 1999 recognize the song.

Meanwhile, a lovely "Two Sisters" sung by Joan Sprung arrived in the same mail. Sharing what we sing is half what this is about. Thanks to you who are sending contributions!