I've just been looking in Ian Russell's booklet 'Hark, Hark! What News' which accompanies the Village Carols CD of the same name recorded at Dungworth; there are more details on the Village Carols website, including a downloadable PDF of the booklet.

Ian Russell confirms the story given above about David Smith inviting Albert Broadhead to sing a solo at the Royal, and Albert choosing 'Swaledale' which he and his brother, Bernard had learned at Keld on their rambling excursions from a friend of theirs, Edgar Tissiman, a National Park Warden. The Broadhead brothers had sung it for years at the Saturday night singsongs held at the Three Merry Lads in Lodge Moor in the company of a remarkable group of singers whom I would love to have heard singing together. The booklet contains a photograph of Albert singing at the Royal in 1992 aged 87.

The index to the booklet mentions the other Swaledale song 'The Ballad of Swaledale', whose chorus begins:-

"Beautiful Swaledale, land of rest,
Beautiful Swaledale, I love thee the best."

Bradfordian requested the lyrics for this in a Mudcat thread 10 years ago, but he never got a full answer, so I hope somebody can track it down now. See Another Swaledale Song.

Matthew