Vic-

Hearing a real traditional work song is a thrill. I managed to record one while in the Peace Corps years ago (1968) when some farmers outside my house were transplanting huge banana-like trees in the adjacent lot in our village in Gurage, Ethiopia. It sounded just like a halyard shanty, in a modal mode with a crescendo of yips and yelps as it built to a climax. When I asked my students what the words meant they said, "Sir, you don't want to know; they're being very rude."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble