G'day Alan,

We may have stumbled across an unrecognised 'north-south' split in Anglo terminology. Local practice is to refer to (the pitch of) the Anglo's rows in order from that nearest the hands (as also in respect of multi-row button accordions, which most of us also play) ... so my 20-key Lachenal has a G row nearest my hands and a C row (admittedly a fifth lower, rather than the G/C accordions inner [C] row that is a fourth higher in pitch) ... and is refered to as a G/C. Of course, if we were to speak in ascending order of pitch, my Anglo might be a C/G (or C/g) while my accordion was G/C (or, indeed, G/c).

As may be ... Just how far back did your "... superb English system player ..." emigrate to NSW?

Back in the beginnings of the 'Australian Folk Revival' and the beginnings of the Bush Music Club (from 1954) we seemed to have a good few English players of concertina - often staffing universities - and they seem to have all had some involvement in the ICA. Early "Bush Music" enthusiasts interested in taking up concertina, as a traditional instrument of the Colonial past, and noting that many old Bush singers talked of the best Bush musicians playing "... good English concertinas ..." sought out these English concertina players who averred that the old blokes must mean concertinas of Wheatstone's original pattern ... misleading several revival players into sweating over squeezing onto the chromatic and classical English concertina bright, bouncy, tunes that just happily romped along on the old bush players' Anglos (and button accordions)!

If you were thinking of someone who immigrated to NSW that far back, it may be one of these older ICA types. If later (say ~ 1970) then I know some Australians who had gone to Britain to study, in the '60s, had become involved with the ICA and taken up English system concertina. One of those - "Skippy" (Rayford) Goninon - had a new 48-key English made by Crabb, with the custom-fretted metal ends that led to his nickname. (a kangaroo, in the design, was the only Australian motif they recognised ... and the TV program Skippy seems to have been inordinately popular in England!). Skippy had a lot of tuition from Alf Edwards - and came back with a tune: Ray's Tune in G, penned by Alf (and published by me in the Bush Music Club's Mulga Wire ... back in 1981!).

Regards,

Bob