" ... folk is not a 'study' despite those who'd like to make it one. All that historical re-enactment, box ticking pedantry is hateful. It's music, not a lecture. Kill the footnotes and intros and reach out to people. Trust in their ears."

Which is where we must part company, 'glueman'. It's music alright - but music with a context. To me it's not just a pleasant noise. At the weekend I paid my annual pilgrimage to a village once inhabited by one of our great national poets. He was an early folk song collector and we know that both of his parents sang (his father was a noted ballad singer in the area over 200 years ago). On the Friday night dozens of people from all over the area turned up, at one of the local pubs, to play tunes and to sing old songs. I experienced an extraordinary sense of connection and continuity. There was no attempt at "historical re-enactment" and no "box ticking" - it just happened (with the aid of some flyers and email). To me it was the context which helped to make that night special - along with the quality of the music, of course.

I'm obviously not like you, 'glueman' - I want to know about things. I want to understand context and to divine meaning. I despise 'wilful ignorance' and anti-intellectualism and think that these are serious problems in our society. Perhaps you'll tell me that this attitude constitutes some sort of 'moral failing' on my part - but you'll have a hard job convincing me!