Steve wrote the words to Ramblin' The Moors as a tribute 
and affectionate farewell to his parents, Alice and Joe, who, 
in their youth, spent many happy Sundays on the moors of Cheshire 
and Derbyshire, in Northern England. Georgiana Hennessy, of 
Atlantic Crossing, wrote the music.

Speaking of Georgiana, Steve and Michele learned Jessica's Polka, 
by Mick Hanly, from her many years ago, in another band. Kesh Jig 
is a favorite at local jams and sessions, and it was Brad's idea to 
tie them together.

Southwind is well known as an instrumental, but we didn't know 
there were words to it until Betty Glasser, our first publicly declared 
groupie, steered us to these from the singing of Archie Fisher. In the 
song, an Irishman who is in the southern province of Munster asks the 
warm south wind to carry his kisses northward to his beloved County 
Mayo. This song goes a long way toward confirming our suspicion that 
the Irish are congenitally homesick. Al Missbrenner adds button 
accordion to this piece.  

This set starts with Farewell, a traditional Scottish air that Laurel 
found in Robin Williamson's Tin Whistle Tutor, but as it progresses, 
farewells turn to hellos, and a travelling lad meets the girl of his 
dreams in the ever-popular Irish ballad The Star Of The County 
Down. The third verse is rarely-sung, and Dan found it in an Irish 
song anthology. Laurel adapted her alto recorder harmony from a 
recording by The Barolk Folk.

Dan literally chased Glendale-based harper Dennis Doyle all over 
Southern California to learn The Red-Haired Man's Wife, an old 
and (what else?) unhappy love ballad. It was originally translated 
from the Irish by Sean Cannon, who was able to maintain much of 
the intraline rhyming that is common in Gaelic poetry. A tribute to 
the never-say-die romantic spirit! We are pleased to have Bruce 
Boyer and Barry Fisher playing guitar on this piece.

Karen learned Searching For Lambs from Sylvia Woods. The tune 
is found throughout the British Isles, and several vocal versions have 
been recorded. June found the traditional Scottish MacKinnon Brook, 
and Michele came up with the happy idea of linking the two.

Sir Hugh Roberton wrote the words to The Mingulay Boat Song in 
the 1930s, for his Glasgow Orpheus Choir. For the tune, he used a 
traditional air from the region of Loch Treig. Mingulay is a now- 
abandoned fishing village in the Hebrides (or Western Isles), off 
Scotland. See Derek Cooper's The Road to Mingulay, (Routledge & 
Kegan Paul, 1985).

The words to The Sailor Is Home were written by Steve, and 
Jessie Kelly supplied the tune. Andy Fitzpatrick was the much- 
beloved head of the Sea Scout base in Newport Beach for many years, 
and Steve and Michele enjoyed several trips on the Scouts' topsail 
ketch, Argus. Andy died in 1989, and his ashes were scattered at sea.

The first song written for the group by Karen, Take Me Away was 
inspired by the love of sailing that she shares with her husband, Ed. 
This is for all of us who would rather be somewhere away from the 
rat race.

Just to prove that Steve writes about subjects other than death, we 
include I Wish We Could Waltz There Again, for which Laurel 
wrote the music. Several of the Tinkers met for the first time at the 
contra dances held at the Anaheim Cultural Arts Center, a wonderful 
old hall that is now a parking lot. Reminiscing about those nights, and 
lost and found friends, inspired the song. We have Lois Boyer, of 
Cottonwood, to thank for her original February Waltz, on which she 
also plays hammered dulcimer, while her husband Bruce adds a guitar part.

Canadian novelist Charles de Lint published The Tinker's Black 
Kettle in his book The Little Country, and kindly gave us permission 
to record it. It fits in very nicely with our signature tune, The Jolly 
Tinker, which Dan learned from (who else?) the Clancy Brothers.

Lois Boyer suggested this medley of traditional Irish dance tunes, 
although we changed the order. Starting with O'Keefe's Slide we 
proceed along The Road to Lisdoonvarna (site of a famous marriage 
festival) and reach a rousing conclusion with The Swallowtail Jig, 
on which we are again joined by Al Missbrenner. 

A former kingdom in Northwest Spain, Galicia was populated by Celtic 
peoples in the 9th Century. Traces of this Celtic culture remain today, 
especially in family and place names, and such tunes as this Galician 
Waltz, which June learned at a Maggie Sansone workshop.