Hi Martin!

There was a fellow in Connecticut, an airline pilot as I recall, whose wife disappeared without a trace. Foul play was suspected but the police had a problem in that no body was found. He was convicted in the end, as I recall, based on the fact that he had been observed standing on a bridge over the Housatonic River operating a wood chipper at 3 o'clock in the morning. I think I have those facts mostly correct.

As much as I would like to comply with your writ of habeas corpus, as happens with oral history, delivering the body of Billy O'Shea presents some difficulty.

I did a concert last night with Bob Conroy and Brian Conway and, as I looked down the list of songs, I was amazed how many of them were only preserved by one chance meeting between between one folk song collector and one singer. A good case in point is "The Leaving of liverpool," a personal favorite of mine and a song now in wide circulation. Despite the variety of textual versions, I know of no other source for this song than Dick Maitland, Bill Doerflinger's informant.

Ewan MacColl got the song from Bill's book and recorded the non-rhyming version. Lou Killen, who was in the chorus at the session, started singing it in folk clubs. Luke Kelly got it from Lou; the Clancys from Luke. By the time the Clancys got to Carneige Hall, everything now rhymed but, if my suspicions are correct, if it wasn't for Captain Dick and Bill, there would have been no Leaving of Liverpool for the rest of us. I will call Bill a little later today and ask.

My point is, rather than indicate it must be proved that "Billy O'Shea" is a traditional song, it must be proved that "Billy O'Shea" is NOT a traditional song. I haven't seen any evidence of that yet.

See you on Tuesday night. I look forward to a pint and a song with you.

All the best,
Dan