Just gave it a crank on the fiddle - a little rusty in places, but I was amazed it was there at all after the sort of winter I've had. That said, I found myself free-styling several lines by way of on-the-hoof-restoration (AKA The Folk Process): ..and such a nice pair o' nellies*, well I'd never seen, boys / She laughed as one popped out her dress. If I'm well enough to sing it at The Moorbrook tonight, it'll be in there, fearless of feminist recrimination.

Earlier on in this thread I suggested a contrast 'n' compare between the two folk fairs Fakenham and The Hiring. One obvious point of similarity is the implicit / explicit adolescent breast-obsession. I know breast-obsession isn't restricted to adolescents, but I'd argue that its very nature is adolescent. I've never heard the original version of The Hiring Fair (and have no wish to) but whenever I've heard it sung in folk clubs, it is always with that hushed sort of heart-stopping reverential earnestness only breast-starved adolescent males** are capable of.

* Nellies is an H E Bates word, so fits in there quite snugly I reckon. Fnaar, fnaar...

** I once heard it sung by a woman, who crossed the gender of the song and rendered it thus: When all was safely gathered in, and we sat down to rest / my trembling fingers touched his arm and - well you can guess the rest.