>What rather annoys me though about many of the Irish transhumances is the ready resort to cliche- you'll usually hear the Manchester rambler, even when they keep the Manchester references, starting "I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler"- singing without understanding, or even perhaps thinking.

Paul, the phrase "I`m a rambler I`m a gambler" comes from the song "The Moonshiner" which is better known in Ireland then the Manchester Rambler; I certainly knew it before I ever heard Ewan MacColl's song, and I have always assumed that's where Ewan got his phrase from.