I wasn't going to respond any more to this thread, as I think all the points have been made and given me food for thought. However, I must challenge in the strongest possible terms Guest Lavengro's last posting. He claims I have not recorded these songs for posterity or access at some future point, but he could not be more wrong. Nearly all the recordings I made of the Smith and Brazil families have been published on the Musical Traditions label for anyone to access. Added to which, copies have been deposited with the British Library Sound Archive for anyone to hear. No financial gain was involved - in fact just the opposite when I consider the travel, money spent in treating people to drinks, etc. I do no begrudge any of this and I am glad that I did it. The Gypsy traditions are changing and I have made an effort to record the old songs. The old singers I recorded have all passed on now, and had not I and others noted their songs, they would have been lost, not only to archives, but to the families themselves. It is up to the families as to whether they wish to continue singing the songs themselves - it is not my business to tell people what they should sing. I am always happy to pass on the results of my collecting to interested parties - just ask Paul Sartin or John Kirkpatrick - and always seek to respect and acknowledge my sources.

Contrary to what you may think, I have no wish to parody or profiteer from Gypsy material, or any material I have gathered. I respect the tradition and am seeking to celebrate it and promote it to a wider audience, not to trivialise it. And for your information, I have as little respect for the BFGW programme as you clearly have.

If a singer has been kind enough to allow me to record them, then I feel I have just as much right as they have to sing that song, which wasn't "theirs" in the first place. We are only links in a chain. I am talking here about traditional songs, of course, as composed songs are a different matter.

You mention money - it is NOT, repeat NOT my intention to make money from this initiative. I have made it clear that I am not seeking large fees, but expenses are a right and proper thing to expect. I just like singing the songs and hope that it can give some pleasure to others to hear me. Added to which, I would like some credit for the work I have done to preserve and pass on these songs.

I would be grateful if people who know nothing about me did not attribute motives to me that are far from my mind.

There, I have said my piece and I think this thread has gone far enough. Thank you all for your thoughts, and I am signing off this thread now. PM me if you have anything further to say.

Tradsinger