Thanks, Dale. I will take your word for it that Slim's rendition is 'quite nice'. However, I will not resile from my position. Like Bob, I would recite Paterson's ballads. 'The Man From Snowy River' is the archetype of the heroic style of bush balladry and I believe the imposition of a tune can only detract from its poetic force and Paterson's craftsmanship. I think Graham Jenkin has summed it up pretty well: 'The basic material the poet works with is the spoken word, and the result of his inspiration and craftsmanship is a structure demanding such subtle nuances of tone, timing, intensity, and expression, that only the human speaking voice can do it justice. Music has its own disciplines - particularly those of pitch and time - and while a competent singer can give a real amount of dramatic expression to a song, it is equally true that in putting any set of words to music, something must be lost in the compromise, as the music imposes its own tones and rhythms on the poem'. ['Songs of the Great Balladists' Rigby 1978, p132]

--Stewie.