Hi Ferrara:

Thanks for the offer of the tune. I have found several Midi's of the tune on the Web, and have a printed version in the "Songs and Dances of Scotland".

The Pub Sing has grown in the last year. I took about 9 months off and it went from about 15 people in the back of the pub, to basically taking over the whole bar. It's great, and there are several professional singers that often come, but your turn only comes up maybe once or twice an evening. The smoke isn't as bad as I remember the blues bars in Chicago to be, but you still wake up with the smell in your hair.

It's funny, last month I sang for two hours. I had one beer not because I didn't want to order another but because it was so crowded that the waitress only came around once. Well, I started driving home and filled with the music I was singing at the top of my lungs and my arms were a flailing. Before you know it there I was on University Blvd. with flashing lights behind me. It turns out the parking lot was well lit, and I had forgotten to turn on my lights. Plus, I was driving slow because I don't see that well at night. Well, when the officer heard that I had been to the Shanty Sing he put me through every test he could think of (I don't think he really believed me when I said I had only had one beer). I can't say the alphabet from d to w fast without singing the ABC song even when I'm sober. Anyway, He finally let me off with a warning. I think he followed me for about a mile after he let me go.

To make a long story short, the smoke is noticeable but not too bad.

Do you go to the Folk Society sing alongs on the first Friday of every month, and do they sing Shanties there? I always have my son's Cubscouts, but someday...

Jim Bunch