The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #421   Message #1908112
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
13-Dec-06 - 02:41 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Heather Down the Moor (from June Tabor)
Subject: RE: Tabor - Heather Down the Moor
ChS: You state, and repeat on your site, that I said "The book names no traditional sources, though two tunes are given." I said no such thing. My remark was, precisely, "No traditional source named, though two tunes are given, unfortunately unidentified". Since I was describing the Digital Tradition file, it should have been clear that my comment referred to the DT, not to Dan Milner's book, which I have not seen. My guess would be that he included only one tune, and that properly sourced. It is the DT compilers who tend to omit source information and link several tunes to a file without saying which is the one that belongs to the text concerned or (sometimes) where any of them came from.

I would be obliged if you would take note of this and remove the comment on your website. It misrepresents Dan Milner; and, for that matter, me. I can see how you may have misunderstood; but you should never paraphrase instead of quoting accurately and in context. Further, the statement on your website, unqualified as it is, implies that you yourself have seen the book. Have you?

I doubt if there is any connection at all between 'Brigadier M'Intosh' and 'Heather on the Moor'. You seem to have jumped to an anachronistic conclusion, comparing an 18th century text with a 20th century one and then guessing that the 20th century tune may have some connection on vague metrical correspondences. You need instead to compare roughly contemporary texts and tunes if you are to get anywhere.