The song, 'The Road to Drumleman' was, as you all well know, written by local man Willie Mitchell.
I'm sure you all know too that Tony Cuffe took this song & put a new melody to it & in the process, made it famous right around the World.
Now at a Dalriada Connections Concert a few years back, we had the pleasure of hearing Willie's daughters actually sing this song to the melody their Dad put the song to, & very nice it was too.
However, I'm wondering why local folks have such a problem with Tony's new melody?
After all, that is a recognized & perfectly natural element of the Traditional process, when someone puts a different air to a song. The rule of thumb is generally regarded as being, if it works folk will adopt it & use it, but if not & the new melody doesn't suit, then it will be quickly forgotten.
I would tend to think that Willie would be chuft to bits to know that his song was being sung today all round the World. After all, it's the WORDS that are the most important element of the song & thanks to Tony Cuffe, folk enthusiasts throughout the World now know those words & enjoy the sentiments that song so expertly conveys.
Cheers
Dick