""Leave it, Don. Jim is an important figure in the folk revival. He and Pat have done some very valuable work. If it were not for that, I wouldn't have bothered with him.""

All very well Bryan but the day he shows me any respect, is the day I will stop hitting back.

He knows the square root of FA about me, what I think, how I operate, and how much respect I command from those with whom I interact in the real world.

Yet, from his high horse, he feels qualified to pontificate about the damage he feels I am doing to the music.

Earning respect requires somewhat more than barging in and telling everyone in sight they are doing it all wrong, and they must listen, because he is the expert.

For as many years as he has spent collecting the work of others, I have been out there, singing those songs, and facilitating the singing for others. I have booked dozens of wholly traditional first class acts, often making up any shortfall in takings out of my pocket.

In addition, I create songs, and whether they are good or bad is for others to judge, but I do get great responses from audiences of people who are traditionally oriented.

That is why I so bitterly resent the unfair, and unpleasant categorisation of what I do as rubbish.

Don T