"There was a possibility that Ned Adams was using decoration on the end of the first line of Bold Princess Royal but it is hardly discernible"

I've been using that recording of Ned Adams in workshops for many years, to show that English singers were well capable of ornamentation. Apart from the turns at the end of the first line of every verse, the performance is full of the most extravagant slides.

A much better known singer, Bob Copper himself (the very man who made the recording of Adams) slipped subtle ornaments into his singing all the time. Neither example is comparable with the ornamental complexity of sean nós singing in Ireland, but they are interesting nonetheless.

Jim's point, though, is that ornamentation and storytelling don't go together, since one is likely to distract attention from the other. That's an interesting question I've thought about a lot. If, say, a guitar accompaniment detracts from the story (I don't accept it myself but people who enjoy traditional singers sometimes say this), then by the same token so should ornamentation.

But here I'm going to call in evidence one of Jim's own recordings, the magnificent 1970s performance by the traveller Bill Cassidy of 'Pretty Polly' (aka Outlandish Knight). Cassidy used all kinds of ornaments, often to my ears unconventional ones, but still succeeded in telling the tale very effectively. What think you Jim?

And how about Paddy Tunney, whose 'Lowlands of Holland' I once tried to imitate vocally for a another workshop. The first phrase alone contains at least four beautifully executed turns (it took me ages to get hold of it), but how does it bear on the storytelling? I'm not sure how I feel myself about that one.