Well, I finally got my copy of The Lilting Sons of Country Folk and a chance to look through it. As Martin Ryan pointed out above, it is a new book of local musical lore from the southern half of Co. Roscommon, Ireland. I just thought I'd take a minute to say a bit more about it because it's a work of immense charm and one most people will likely not otherwise come across.

The text is divided into 3 sections: 1) The Personalities and Events of Bye-Gone Days, 2) Some Popular and Traditional Songs associated with the region, the composers and the stories behind them (but no tunes), and 3) The Personalities and Events of Today. The author, Declan Coyne, is a sometimes singer, one-time fiddler and an everyday dairy farmer with a diploma in Community Development Practice.

Where the book succeeds admirably is in presenting an approximately 100-year slice of the musical life of a region of rural Ireland. In doing so, it reveals a great deal about Ireland's living folk song tradition through its ballad singers and composers. It is a book that puts faces on songs and color to the countryside. 224 pages with many pictures.

All the best, Dan Milner