G'day all ... and sundry,

It's very interesting to look back over all the "folk adaptations' that have clustered around the form and tune of H C Work's 1865 Ring the Bell, Watchman. I'm not sure about the rest of you folkies ... but I always reckon the tune (and it's parodies) survived well in Australia because it was a great "Schottische" tune ... and, as the Military Schottische morphed into the Barn Dance!

Singing along with the dance tune being played was a habit commented upon in small rural dances ("Bush Dances") of the Australian "Outback" (~backblocks)in the days before amplification ... and especially in small, often very informal, home dances, where a single player, on (Anglo-) concertina or button accordion, might be supplying dance rhythms to people dancing on the rsmmed earth floors of two or three different rooms. The player might stand at the junction of the rooms ... but people singing along would also keep track of where they all were in the tune / dance set!

Regards,

Bob