all over the map..........

i have been tracing my family tree off & on for a while now, with both my parents no longer about, i never really knew much about my family history beyond grandparents - so thanks to all the census sites now about, i have traced back so far to the early nineteenth century

it's fair to say that the wanderlust that has brought me here to Canada is evident in my forefathers - my dad's side of the family is all over the map - Ireland (I wish I knew where), Lancashire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire & in recent times Durham feature

my mum's side is much more resolutely London - although she was born on an RAF base in South Wales during the war - both sides of the River Thames feature with Camberwell, Peckham, New Cross representing the south east!

i was born in Gloucestershire, brought up in Wiltshire & Brighton, went to college in Manchester, lived in Liverpool immediately after graduating & latterly lived in SE London for quite a few years - no wonder i'm confused

i like to think this broad base has enabled me to travel & adapt to new places with ease - i remember once travelling in Idaho, we met a family in a bar in a little hick town one evening, after talking for a while i asked one of them where else they had travelled in this fair world - i was startled when she replied she'd been to Moscow once, i commented about how exotic that was for an American & she looked at me rather strange

we drove through Moscow the next day - 30 miles up the road from where we had been staying

two more tracks for the Rocky Mountain Radio tonight

in proud celebration of my Irish ancestory i am putting up a track by Planxty - recorded in 1973, the self titled album is full of wonderful, exhilirating Irish music - the usual smattering of Republican songs, teary eyed laments & breathtaking reels - the album is a joy. I have actually selected one of the reels - a disturbing song about a beggar, who invited into the farmer's house, deflowers the (seemingly willing) farmers daughter! - not sure it would pass muster with the PC police these days, but the playing is breathtaking, epsecially the closing minute or so.

i have by way of contrast selected another song by Sandy Denny's Fotheringay, from 1971 - another trad. song (of Scottish origin I think) - this tells the tale of a reluctant soldier & his heartbroken wife in 1800 - as he is drafted & sent off via Portsmouth to fight against Napoleon in Egypt - a sadder song you would struggle to hear, especially with the beautiful voice of Sandy Denny telling the tale.

it's strange to think that 140 years after this song was set, my grandfather himself would be in Egypt fighting a war

Planxty - The Jolly Beggar Reel (1973)

Fotheringay - Banks of the Nile (1971)