Ada, your point is very well taken but it goes both ways. I don't know how many times our party of friends have shown up to share civil conversation, maybe share the latest jokes, maybe talk about our latest challenges and triumphs, maybe talk about the weather, but we were thwarted by an itinerant musician with a loud amplifier.
In this case, there were 3 people in the pub when we started. We drew in an additional 70 or 80 strangers. Several people (including the original 3) request that we play louder.
Danny Boy is also one of my favorites. Some of the more traditional Irish crowd had professed to dislike it, but if played well this can be a very beautiful and dramatic tune. I usually play it as a medley with The Bonney Banks of Loch Lomond.
It really is a pity that the crowd did not know who had played. They could not bother to turn their heads and acknowledge the musician? That is their loss.
That being said, in this region the only person to carry an instrument is the musician. Some musicians are adament about this, others are much more outspoken. It is a huge measure of trust if a musician allows someone else to handle or carry his/her instrument, and that does not happen very often (even among married couples). They must have an unusually trusting relationship. I would wish them all the best, but I am guessing they already have it.