I first sang "Linden Lea" at school aged 12. In the same class was a lad by name Jones NJ, since better known as Nic Jones. He and I were lucky, as were most of our generation in England at the time, in that the singing of English folk song was encouraged in schools. There was a schools radio programme called "Singing Together" that was, for me, one of the high points of the week when I was in primary school.

Nowadays, if schoolkids have any music lessons at all, they are steered in the direction of rap more often than anything with any connection with their heritage. My wife, a teacher, was once again horrified to discover that few in her class knew any traditional Christmas Carols.

If asked, most English kids today would say that a dialect is a monster in "Doctor Who"!

O tempora, O mores!

Alan