>> So Bert invented a few folksingers. If that's what it took to get people listening, good luck to him. <<

I know his singing only through several (much-loved) recordings, but even at that distance it's clear that his skill was such that he could have got people listening to the phone book. Did he really need to invent sources, in order to sell the music? (always remembering that the number of instances where this has actually been demonstrated remains small).

I take the point that he was operating in very different circumstances from those we know now. I also realise that without the 'Industrial Songs' concept, there would most likely have been no 'Deep Lancashire', no Harry Boardman, and my life would have been poorer. I still want to know where the songs came from, though.

Talking of which (and this is a genuine question), does anyone know the origin of 'The Weary Whaling Grounds'?