I went along to the "Folk Idol" competition – bit of fun that was closer to a pub singalong than X-Factor I'm pleased to say – at the Local in Crouch End just before christmas. The idea was that all participants had to sing a "folk classic". (While, incidentally, wearing a false beard.)

I was going to play "Willie of the Winsbury", on the banjo, but then somebody else played it on the mandolin. Seeing as there were 7 entrants, I thought it would be bad form to play the same song, so I played "in the pines" instead.

It's funny though, I wouldn't have thought "Willie of the Winsbury" would have been that common a song to choose. I only know Anne Briggs' version.

Incidentally, other people chose 'she moves through the fair' and 'blackwater side'. I'd say those two are definite contenders for most-performed, surely? well, the former anyway...