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Recently I have come across several instances of M:4/4l in ancient ABC transcriptions. For example: X:2104 T:Coffee and Tea C:Trad S:Northumbrian Minstrelsy M:4/4 O:England F:England K:G "C"ef| "G"g2 d2 BGdB| "G"Gggf ~g2 ed| "G"g2 d2 BGdB| "D7"Aefg ~f2 ed|\ M:4/4l "G"g4 d2c2 B2G2 BcdB|\ M:4/4 "G"Gggf ~g2 ed|\ M:4/4l "G"g4 d2c2 B2G2 BcdB|\ M:4/4 "D7"Aefg ~f2:: ed| "G"BgBg (3def gd| "G"BgBg ~f2 ed| "G"BgBg (3dgf gd| "D7"Aegf gfed|\ M:4/4l "G"B2g2B2g2 fgfe g2d2|\ M:4/4 "G"BgBg ~f2 ed|\ M:4/4l "G"B2g2B2g2 fgfe g2B2|\ M:4/4 "D7"Aefg ~f2| The context is different in different examples. For instance, in the above, the bars following the M:4/4l all appear to be 'overfull', but replacing each instance of M:4/4l with L:1/16, and the following M:4/4 with L:1/8 would supply a 'fix' (of some sort). However I have seen an example (can't find it now) where the 'fix' would be to replace M:4/4l with L:1/4 which is in some sense, exactly the opposite approach. I'm deeply puzzled... Does anyone have any idea what this means please? I've looked at some 'early' ABC documentation and can't find any reference to this sort of stuff. Some additional points: I've also seen examples of M:6/8l and M:3/4l Several of the instances of this seem to be in transcriptions of tunes from Northumbrian Minstrelsy, (though there are others). Is there an ancient transcription of Northumbrian Minstrelsy out there 'in the wild' which has got broken up, and lost any accompanying explanation of what this stuff means? Any advice welcome. Ta.