They say that truth is stranger than fiction. I think that some urban myths may well have their basis in fact but, with the retelling, specifics get lost or changed. Birmingham becomes Newcastle becomes Glasgow; an uncle becomes a friend becomes a colleague; a bus ride becomes a train journey becomes a car trip; and so on, but the kernel of the story could remain intact. After all, we accept that songs relating to real events go through the folk process to give us widely varying versions.


DC