I don't know about anybody else, but I find the title of this thread offensive.

You may not have agreed with Ewan about everything and, I can see one or two folks here bumped into him on a bad night. but I thought he was more than all right, and I don't mean as an artist - I mean as a person.

And he had a son Hamish, I seem to remember. He was into music. It wouldn't be very nice for him to see his Dad talked of as a coward and traitor.

I mean, fair enough - if he'd been a serial murderer or something, but he wasn't.

I remember chatting with Martin Carthy onetime - must have been about a year before he Ewan died. From what Martin said, I don't think he saw eye to eye with Ewan about everything - but thats how it should be between two great artists. Anyway Martin had just done done a gig with him, and Ewan had suffered an angina attack onstage. Martin was very moved at the way Ewan had insisted on finishing the song - getting through to the end of the gig, even though the angina was kicking in.

And god knows the guy stood up for stuff, he believed in.

So please not a coward or traitor, when it came to stuff that mattered to him.

big al whittle