"Although I don't share Jim's scorn for deskbound research "
Neither do I Brian (presuming the "Jim" isn't me, of course!
I Use desk-bound research for everything I am unsure of
My "scorn" is reserved for the desk-jockeys who regard their own researches as unassailable and that of those who disagree "romantic rubbish" - especially those who speak in a form of folk 'Freemasonese' in 'a language that the stranger does not know' via books most of us can't afford.
I locked horns with one of those once who I recently read as having claimed that "most Irish folk songs started life on broadsides.
"Insulting"
Karen - at first I found the idea that Tom Lenihan learned his 'St James' Hospital' somewhat risible - when it was repeated after my denying it, I found it downright insulting - to me and to Tom's memory
We befriended and recorded Tom over a period of twenty years, much of that time interviewing him.
If we couldn't have spotted hims as being a covert blues fan we might as well have folded our microphones and taken up macrame.
My point remains as stated in the beginning
I traced the 'St James's reference back to a hospital in London run by charity nuns catering for leprosy patients and demolished to make room for St James' Palace
The article made the point that clap patients were included for 'the sake of the oud dacency' pertaining at the time
I have since believed that the 'St James' Hospital' reference predates the blues versions by several centuries.
Jim Carroll