"Jim can of course answer for himself, but this sounds to me like a Scouse term of affection."

It was exactly that - it is beyond me why anybody should think otherwise
I'm sorry - I thought I'd made a reasonable assessment of the friendly and sometimes flippant nature of this discussion - it seems I was mistaken and will have to choose my words more carefully in the future
Sorry if I have given offence - it was not my intention

My comments on the writers I mentioned was not a "rant", by the way, it was an account of our own experiences as non-academics and some of the 'freemasonry' we encountered; maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it It is certainly not typical of what we were used to from fellow researchers and music-lovers
My comments on the writers I mentioned was not a "rant", by the way, it was an account of our own experiences as non-academics and some of the 'freemasonry' we encountered; maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it
It is certainly not typical of what we were used to from fellow researchers and music-lovers
Here in Clare I used to get mildly inebriated a couple of nights a week in our local with one of the finest and most generous minds in traditional song scholarship until he died - he and those nights are sorely missed

In fact, my whole attitude to the Summer School is somewhat ambivalent - as fine as the standard of music is, Pat and I tend to stay away from it because the town is overcrowded and uncomfortable - last night was the first and there was neither the space nor the necessary attention to sit and enjoy the music - we'll wait for the recitals, concerts and talks for that
The strength of the event is that it is a school - dozens of daily classes and discussions on all the instruments, all crammed full of youngsters - and now (at long last) a few more on singing   
It is very much part of the foundation that has now been established to ensure Irish Traditional music has a future - 46 years old this year
Personally, we can listen to good live Irish music in town`4 or five nights a week throughout the year - in comfort

Regarding the title of the book - I think it was chosen deliberately as an 'antidote' to Bert's book of the same name - two books with exactly the same title cannot be a coincidence, nor can it be based on ignorance of the other.
Rather than addressing Bert's most important point in the last chapter, Roud rides over it roughshod by ignoring it.
In doing so, he leaves us with a major decision - what do we call our songs now 'Knock 'em in the Old Kent Road' is a folk song, or is there really no difference between that and 'Tifties Annie'?
And how do we categorise that century-plus body of work that deals with that 'other type' of song?
Jim