Dear Mudcatters, hope you can help - I've looked on the forums but can't find exactly what I'm after.

I am an amateur folkie who also does a certain amount of youth work. Normally, I keep my love of guitar playing and folk music in general away from the youngsters (10-15) - I'm wary of inflicting my enthusiasms on them and seeming 'sad'.

However, last year a group of 10 year old were absolutely enthralled by 'Sir Patrick Spens' (they caught me singing at the campfire after I thought they were safely in bed..). Now it wasn't my playing or singing, it was 'the story'. And they insisted on more! (Hope they didn't tell their parents about the plot line of Matty Groves). And I thought, perhaps we can do more to get young people interested in folk or traditional music.

So how about a list of 5-6 songs, that you reckon are strong enough to enthrall/enchant/knock sideways the most blase/cynical 10-16 year olds. Not children's songs, but songs that can make people say 'I heard this folksong and it was great'. Songs that will stand up to less than perfect performances but still get the message across that this is a form of music worth investigating and listening to?

Many thanks in advance!