Just a brief word of explanation for any bystanders who might be puzzled at the direction this thread is taking.
Earlier this year I was involved on this forum in a somewhat acrimonious debate about a number of vicious reviews which appeared in an internet magazine, one of which included insulting elderly traditional singers. This debate degenerated into several extremely nasty personal threads one of which included postings signed with my wife's name. She had nothing whatever to do with the debate, but that made no difference to these heroes (I see by the above posting that she is still included her in his invective). It also sank to the level of a threat of physical violence on the Irtrad forum
Because of the somewhat unpleasant personal nature that some of the postings have been taking on this present thread, also because of the tendency of the contributor to cite fictional events as fact (an ongoing trait), I suspected that (as the song says) The Mice Are At it Again and one or other of this pair had decided to renew the nastiness. I was more or less convinced of this last night when I saw that one of their threads had been re-opened and the nastiness continued (see Folk Song Collector For Sale). This time, one of their targets includes a dear friend whose work on collecting has made him arguably the most important contributor to folk song in these islands. The fact that he is at present in pretty poor health makes him a nice soft target I suppose.
I have neither the stomach nor the time to become involved in this garbage, so I have no intention of rising to the bait. Anybody who wishes further enlightenment may do so by looking up these threads and deciding for themselves: 'Dog And Gun, Origins of Golden Glove', 'Folk Song Collector For Sale', 'Hunky Collector Required', and 'West Clare Collector Kidnapped By Taliban', -­ all good adult stuff as you may gather. The argument was continued on the letter page of Musical Traditions, but was closed by the editor.
I have no desire to turn what has been for me a couple of extremely positive, enjoyable and informative threads on the work of MacColl and the Critics Group into a slanging match, but, should anybody wish to continue to discuss these subjects I am more than happy to do so; I will also be glad to pass on any information I have on these topics.
Jim Carroll