Alistair,

I think you might mean PeteM., as there is no BenM. on the Minch thread. And, I am equally sure Pete, who is a great guy, meant it as a joke. I agree with you, though, that a lot of people might not realize that.

Anyone who has read my comments on the subject knows that I am not xenophobic. I've not seen much evidence of it here on the 'Cat since I've been on, which was in January (not quite continously!). I've seen much discussion on the old songs of Foster and others not being PC and whether folk choose to make them so or not.

I am glad you started this thread, because there have been a couple of things which bothered me, too. When I think of trad music, I think of music of all indigenous cultures, so I guess I think of it more as "world" music which, for me, is something to be honoured and respected.

My husband was raised speakign Canadian French, learned Spanish while working in Venezuela; I took Spanish, German, and Latin in school; my son-in-law is from Antigua and his step-mother in CT speaks St. Martin French. We've lived in neighborhoods where several other languages were spoken. We loved it,our kids loved, and most of all, we loved sharing the trad music of each of those cultures with each other and our friends.

I have found most people on the 'Cat to be very openminded and caring. I think, because it seems to be dominated by those of us in the US, Canada, England, Scotland, and Ireland, we may have a tendency to go on with inside jokes, etc. without making sure what we are talking about is clear to anyone reading,including those to whom English is a second language. Although, I've seen a good amount of Gaelic on here, too, I'm actually trying to learn it now, so I can translate those thread names!

Anyway, thanks for starting this. It will be interesting to see what everyone else has to say. we still love ya', Pete!

katlaughing