Mutter, grumble. Just spent a while on a posting, clicked Submit and saw it fail to appear. So try again, and this time copy, paste and save before I try to submit.

My point was to request un-drifting this thread.

I would be happy to join Steve, Jim and anyone else in a discussion of origins, folk process, conscious and unconscious changes, oral transmission versus print, how when and why completely different versions of the same stories arose, etc -- but not in this thread.

Here, let's focus on how to SING the ballads: the pros and cons of accompaniment, duetting, choosing new tunes, etc. The fact that singers have always made personal choices, to preserve or to modify, and we can make the same choices now, which our listeners may approve or disapprove of.

Let's go on hearing from experienced singers about what has worked or not worked for them, what came easily, what was a struggle, what went down well or badly with audiences. Let's go on discussing what we like or dislike about some notable innovative singers such as MacColl and Carthy.

Richard