"I second that. Incidentally, I read somewhere that some large proportion (half or more) of cowboys were Black - hence the 'boy' part of the word. I don't know if this is history or urban legend, though."
Urban legend, beyond any shadow of a doubt. The term perdates the American West by a good few centuries. I made that discovery at the age of 11, reading a collection of Irish myths and legends (can't remeber the title, but it was a reprint of a book from 1900 or so) where the term was used. More supporting evidence is the term cabin boy. Not too many black ones.

."...don't you think that a tad condescending, if not discriminatory, to someone who has passed all the practical and academic exams involved in achieving 4 technical certificates (from Advanced Cert. in Manufacturing Technology/HNC to THAT fork lift licence) and a BA in Humanities with distinctions?

Am I the only one here who apreciates a delicious bit of unintended irony? This serious is the funniest thing I have heard in days. POTS AND KETTLES!!!!!!

My grip with Songcathcer is that I don't think the acting is very good and some of the storylines were gratuitous, like the lesbian schoolteachers (though that probably isn't too far from the way things were) but the music is good and makes visualising the difficulties encountered by collecters a lot easier. The scene where she is trying to haul the recording device through the hills is impressive.

Wav, your fundamental ignorance is astounding. 'Show, don't tell' is one of the most basic concepts in writing. It's the difference between passive and active writing. Requires the reader to excersize their imagination.
Instead of writing that Sebastian Cleverbeak, your protagonist, is very smart, you come up with a situation which shows that.
One of the things that made me want to scream when I read O'Brien's Master and Commander (turgid!), was that whenever an action scene occured, O'Brien would fade out and then have one of the characters comment to the other over a glass of wine. 'Wasn't that a s ticky situation.' 'Oh, yes, a very hard fight.' 'Ensign Snottynose behaved himself most courageously.' etc., etc., WITHOUT ever showing the reader! I'm not saying he needed a Bernard Cornwell level of blood and guts to do so, but it's a lot funner to be PRESENT instead of hearing about it later.