Song speed. I can play Begger Man fast, I learned from the Arlo version. Later I was playing at a camper rally and a guitar player asked me why I played everthing so fast, I just leared it that way. Over time I worked on slowing things down and found I can play a slow bluesy tempo to a lot of fast paced songs. It makes for something different and helps me learn the fast ones by working at a slower place. Little Begger man slowed down is one I really enjoy playing.

Littler Beggar Man and how things crossed the Pond.

During the 70's I was in Mississippi visiting my grandmother, mom and I went junk shop browsing. In the shop I found a portable letter writing box, it's wood with two front door that open up to show all kinds of small nooks and crannies and such. I was told it came in from a shipment from England, so I bought it. After getting back to my grandmothers house I realize that when you tilted it there was something moving around in the bottom of it. Unknown to me (and apparently everyone else) there is a small slide out drawer that had become stuck. When I finally got it open, I found it was packed full of all kinds of wonderful things like a piano tuning receipt from the late 1800,s, letters, a glass plate photo negative, and report cards from two girls during the 1940s. There were many references to a small town on the coast of southern England. I never really had a way of following up on the information before the internet so it slid by. Several years later, I had picked up a dulcimer. I play by ear and was trying to pick up the tune Red Haired Boy from an Arlo Guthrie album, (the fact that Arlo does not annunciate clearly when he is singing fast did not help). I wrote a note to Dulcimer Player news about my need for the words. Sometime later, I got a message from a gentleman in England who advised me that he knew the song as Little Beggerman and he provided the lyrics that he knew of. It also turned out that he lived a few miles down the road from the little sea side town mentioned in my letterbox letters. I wrote him and asked that if he was ever down the road could he stop into the local newspaper/or provide me the address. He did both, as well as relaying my story to the paper that then ran a story. I was then contacted by an elderly lady from the seaside town who advised: The letter box had belonged to her mother. The report cards were hers and her sisters (she said the sister died very young from an illness and she had very few mementos of her). The box had been sold as part of the mothers estate; no one knew there was a drawer or what was in it. I made copies of all the material and then sent the originals to her. She did send me a copy of the local paper that had done a follow story about the little letter box and its trip across the pond. So now, every time I play Little Beggerman I remember my box, the letters, and the story behind it.

"Little Beggerman" is a favorite. Took me a long time, and a very interesting story, to find the lyrics back in the pre-computer and internet day. Still a favorite.

I think at the moment "Will Ye No' Come Back Again" is my favorite. Tho I am not sure if it's Scotish or Irish.

"John of Dreams" was written by the English songwriter Bill Caddick. It has been taken up by a lot of people, including quite a number of Irish singers (Christy Moore, for one). Bill inadvertently borrowed most of the opening musical phrase from Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique"!

My Bad!

The Long Black Veil....

I meant to add a YouTube, but don't know how to embed it, so here's the site