Brian, I think that Bob considered that getting that song from Ned Adams was one of his greatest achievements whilst collecting. Ned's curious but effective 'lift' at the end of some of the lines really makes this song very different. He wrote it up so well in Songs and Southern Breezes and recounted the tale many times - relishing it more with each telling. The fact that he had to return several times to the pub and bought copious amounts of beer for the assembled company by way of encouragement only added to the suspense. There was never any question that Ned would have repeated it either - just one go and that was it! What the BBC expenses sheet must have looked like goodness knows. What times though.

I do hope that people return to some of these field recordings made by the collectors to get the true grit that you need to digest to get the full goodness from the songs. The sincerity of their delivery makes you want to weep.