How nitpicking can you get - The BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts are one of the finest series of classical music concerts in the world, and people are quibling over the inclusion over the lyrics of one particular song which is traditionally sung in the final concert. Do people really consider that this ha'porth of tar spoils the last night, let alone the whole season. The last night was originally a chance for the regular prommers to let their hair down after spending many evenings of the previous two months enjoying some wonderful music.

I was always rather uneasy, by the way that the popularisation of the last night (with the more serious music of the first half replaced by popular items for the those outside of the RAH) is seen to be the be-all and end-all of the Proms. How would many folkies feel if the final concert at a festival like Sidmouth or Towersey suddenly became the focus of a completely non-folk public who had no interest in the rest of the programme and wanted "Easy Listening" pieces provided to replace some of the demanding material ?

What about the other items that the audience join in with - any complaints from the northerners about Blake's "Dark Satanic Mills" or from the nautical fraternity about the clapping in "The Sailor's Hornpipe" ?

I have only one gripe about the singing of "Rule Britannia" and that is the fact that at least 95% of the population get the words wrong. Many years ago I can remember "Flash" (the late Sir Malcolm Sargent) pointing out to the audience of a last night that the phrase following "Rule Britannia" was an Imperative and not a Statement - ie it's "rule" not "rules".

Now that I realise how offensive that RB to many people, I'll have to think carefully before singing it in folk clubs even if the chorus does end Marry-i-ed to a merm-i-aid at the bottom of the deep blue sea - BTW there are three versions of it in DT - better complain to Dick !