Captain Birdseye, a number of people have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that this inspiring song has lots of variations; that there are traditions of singing it in many other places besides Holmfirth; that the song existed before J.Perkin composed his Pratty Flowers arrangement which subsequently became known as the Holmfirth Anthem; and that even in Holmfirth the words have changed over time.

Why then are you still seeking the chimera of a 'definitive' version? Who will that help? You say that people from other countries may be misled into thinking that the version given in the DT is definitive. However anybody seeking further information about the song can easily find more than they bargained for here and elsewhere, and I am sure that the Watersons and Dick Greenhaus would all be horrified to think that anybody regarded the words printed in the DT as the only acceptable version or that there is any other version which has a higher claim to authority. The notes to the DT state that these are the words sung by the Watersons - I find that an accurate statement of fact. The notes also state that the song comes from the village of Holmfirth - this too is an accurate statement of fact. On this thread and elsewhere people from other countries can go on to learn that the song has genuine traditional variants in Holmfirth and other places in Yorkshire and England.

I relish the fact that a song can exist in so many different forms and at different times, and so long as people continue to sing it and adapt it then the song remains part of a tradition which is alive and evolving. If people come to believe there is only one 'correct' way to sing it then the tradition will have come to an end.