Thanks to everyone who read and helped out. I also received help from the script's author, Silas and yes, it was just a matter of creating the parent directories beforehand.
I had been testing it with small directories before tackling the big /e-smith/home batch of files and wasn't doing mkdir -p for the main directories.
Silas' script appears to be a great way to set up another level of redundant, secure off-site backups.
SME - a great product and, more importantly, great people.
Cheers