Talk:Bothy ballad

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I note that some source say that Jimmy MacBeath spells his name as McBeath. Also some sources say he died in 1974. Howver, the majority says his name was MacBeath, and that he died in 1972.

The following text was placed in the article by an anonymous user, below "External links" where no sentences should be placed:

"As a matter of interest, the variants of the Bothy Ballad tradition are topographically specific not just to the region of Scotland where the tradition originates, but to the precise smallholding where the songs are performed/embellished. This is probably nowadays a practice which has ground to a halt considering the dearth of local labourers in the North-East region of Scotland and an increasing reliance on itinerant migrant workers from Europe and elsewhere, who no doubt have folk traditions of their own to upkeep. However, the existance of such variation within the various songs which comprise the Bothy canon can be proved by conducting an internet lyric search on any well-known ballad - the variation is remarkable and can be largely attributed to the distribution of agricultural smallholdings throughout Angus and Aberdeenshire during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries."

I have removed it because (a) I believe the death of folk singing has little to do with migration to the towns, and a lot to do with the invention of radio and the gramophone (b) the issue of migrant workers was not relevant until after 1990, by which time bothy ballads were long dead and (c) it was not the size of the farm that was important (smallholdings versus large estate), but the fact that the work was seasonal, that created this group of itinerant singers. All folksongs show great variation. I am slightly surprised that nobody has mentioned that Bothy ballads were sung as far south as Fife. Ogg 19:16, 13 February 2007 (UTC)