Jim, when you've only been around the place for five or six weeks, it is always a good idea to lurk for a while and figure out who is who. Otherwise you're bound to end up with egg on your face. That was a whopper of an omelet you cooked up!

Spend more time lurking. You'll fit in, you've been singing for a while (I read some of your early entries and I listened to some of your songs--very nice!). This one is marvelous for the verses and the explanation. We need this kind of contribution at Mudcat. I don't know if this is the accepted version of the story (I haven't read all of those other threads yet myself) but your analysis is sound, and many traditional songs need a special historic lens to make them clear. You provided one. Anyway, relax a little. If you're curious about the bona fides of someone you're chatting with (bearing in mind that we all accidentally end up as "GUEST" if our cookies crumble) then click on the name beside the blue From: in each post. That'll take you to all of their Mudcat posts (as the qualifier says: "Enjoy!") We have some mudcatters who amount to the colonial version of "royalty." If you want a good look at the solid musicians and researchers who most of us will defend here at Mudcat, then you must start with Rick Fielding. Another would be Jean Ritchie (Mudcatter "Kytrad"). And a personal favorite of mine from Seattle is Don Firth.

A belated welcome to you to Mudcat. Are you on this North Texas Irish Festival thread because you'll be in the area?

Stilly River Sage (An Irish-American daughter of a folksinger, and a native Pacific Northwesterner -Seattle, Everett, Bellingham- who now lives in Texas)