Hello,

I've just given a quick glimpse to some of what has been written and I believe if you want to know a little of where these current folksingers from the past 30 to 40 years, (myself included), have gotten much of their material and in many cases inspiration, you might check into "Shantymen and Shantyboys" by William Main Doerflinger, "Traditional Nova Scotia Ballads" by W. Roy MacKenzie, and I think if you went even a bit farther you could also find, aside from many of the sources for people like Helen Creighton (Who wrote several books on folklore as well as her collection of over 15,000 songs) people such as Ben Henneberry from Devil's Island, Fred Redden from Musquodobit (sp?), Mrs. Ed. Gallagher, Fred and Walter Roast, The Yarmouth Sea Captains, that these people are where our roots are. (This can be found by searching through Helen's collection at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia here in Halifax. But what it boils down to is that many of us here are shaped by the land and the sea which is never far away.

Good luck with your project.

Dan