Lesley -- what a wonderful site! I'm especially thrilled with the "Popular Songs in American History" page. What an extensive and unusual collection of songs!

I was very excited to find the whole text of "Battle of the Kegs." Bits of it, and an explanation of the scandal about Sir William and Mrs. Loring, are given in a novel, "Dawn's Early Light" by Elswyth Thane, which I read four or five times when I was in middle school. I've wanted to learn the whole song ever since! - By the way, Bill says the alternate tune, Maddie Lauder, is also called Maggie Lauder. But some of us who aren't so well informed about trad music, learned the tune as the setting for "Unfortunate Miss Bailey."

As an aside, Eswyth Thane's Civil War novel, "Yankee Stranger," which I re-read even oftener, was the original cause of my interest in the song "Lorena". Lorena is now a real favorite of mine and Bill's. Funny how something like that can stick with you.

I expect I'll be a pretty frequent visitor to your site. - Rita Ferrara