Big Mick stop tilting at the straw windmills that you set up. I'm not reading any posts suggesting that only the Irish are likely to steal tunes. The answer to John's original question is that it sells, many people have stated this. Its not a pleasant answer but it doesn't attack the Irish, or those who love traditional Irish music. Has it perhaps started to cross that vast expanse of inert material some people refer to as your brain that your heated rebuttals to unstated assumptions simply because the word Irish is in this thread might account for a somewhat defensive tone? I don't think it is the psyche of someone who asks interesting and legitimate questions that needs to be examined but instead it is the person who gets his knickers in a twist over one word who needs some counselling.

A lot of the people who post to and read the mudcat are interested not just in lyrics and tunes but also in the history and variations of songs. Its neat to read about how a song travelled and see how different people have sung it. This question is a facet of that interest.

No Man's Land or Willie McBride may become a traditional Irish song if the name and nationality of the author are forgotten. Until then, however popular it is in Irish pubs, it is not an Irish song, it is an Eric Bogle song. Songs verifiably written and composed by people residing outside of Ireland, even if their grandfather's poodle's hairdresser's second wife's bosom buddy was one eighth Irish, are not Irish songs. They can be good or great songs composed in an Irish style and they may also be popular in Ireland.