G'day again,

Metchosin: Dooies - Doggies is certainly possible. A lot of Celts ended up in labouring jobs in America, including cowboying. A lot of Scottish influences were integrated and their origin forgotten. It amuses me to read the occasional American discussion of the (American!) origins of phrases such as OK. Long, specious and spurious tales of illiterate generals &c. ... Och Aye?

BTW: I rarely use Button Accordion for folk SONG (although it can be effective in large groups ... or with selective mixing by someone who understands folk music and song). The Button Accordion is Folk DANCE music personified ... and Jimmy Shand is its prophet!

My own speciality is what now constitutes an Australian dance music tradition - largely what has evolved by a mixture of selective memory, adaptation and native invention from a tradition that drew on the breadth of European dance tradition. The Button Accordion is apowerful tool in this style of music - but not EVERY tune or set. (unless your surname is Shand.)

Regards,

Bob Bolton