Theres a great exposition and breakdown of his guitar technique on this song on the Paul Brady guitar tuition video. Not for the faint hearted. i doubt if any two humans have as intense a relationship as Paul brady does with the wood and the wire of his guitar.

As regards the song. if you want to sing it and the words seem offensive - well change them to somewthing that fits in more with our age. The original version is safely on the shelves of the library for the folksong scholars and preservation wallahs. No one can interfere with that. Nowever folksong is to express yourself. Life's not a rehearsal. How else will another age know that we trod the earth?

Of course you run the risk of being called snigger snogger and a navel gazer. But don't worry about those people who are just trying to mask their own lack of creativity.