SCHWEIK> I know what you mean about Cornish nationalism. I once had neighbours who happened to be Cornish. They were very proud of being Cornish and some of them refused to regard themselves as being in any way English! Being an Ulsterman myself, I am well acquainted with the intricacies and pitfalls of nationalism. I wish you well in your self proclaimed "quest for accuracy", just be careful where you find it!

I think we should be careful to differentiate between songs and tunes. Tunes can obviously be used repeatedly simply by using a new set of words/lyrics each time. This does not corrupt the tune in anyway. However, if we are dealing with a song, especially one of relatively recent composition with a structured narrative and story line, then I think the situation is different. If you leave the story line more or less intact but simply fill in new words in certain slots and these new words change the perceived origin/character of the original, then it seems a bit off. Its like you cant write your own songs and instead are indulging in some sort of writing by numbers activity. Moreover, if this were done extensively enough we would reach a situation where no country/culture could build up "song lists" of their own! Folk music would lose an essential tenent of its character and the "Folk music process" would become the "Folk music anti-process" which would result in its original and basic regional enrichment system being lost.

TWANGMAN> As you say McEvoy recorded the song in the 70s. He produced, IMHO, the best recorded version there is. At that time he used the original lyrics and did not attempt in any way to portray the song as being "Irish"! The Irish tagging was done on a later double album, the sort of "Best Hits" thing that artists tend to produce near the end of their careers to try and make a few last bucks. I am an admirer of Johnny McEvoy. I believe he really liked this song and I am quite prepared to believe he had nothing to do with the Irishing up of this wonderful song. It seems more the handiwork of the PR department/Producer/Record company!