"Why shouldn't it have been a pastiche of an Irish musical idiom?"
The text of 'Shoals of Herring' was lifted directly from interviews wwith two elderly East Anglian fishermen - the tune is an adaptation of that used for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men' in the Gavin Greig Collection
In my opinion, the most moving song Ewan ever wrote, Joy of Living', was given a traditional Sicilian tune
Like most songs he wrote, they quickly took on their own identity, wherever they came from
Jim