Yes, it's true that the works of John Connolly, Keith Marsden, Dave Webber and others have passed into the canon of songs sung for pleasure in informal sessions within the folk revival, and that the people who sing them often believe them to be traditional. I'm sure some of Tom's compositions are destined for that status too. The folk movement has its traditions like any other community (raffles, cheek-popping in 'Pleasant and Delightful', people who say "it's good enough for folk", etc.), but it differs from, say, agricultural, fishing or mining communities in which songs were sung for relaxation and entertainment, in that the songs themselves are the whole reason for the folk community's existence. Tom's term "Revived Tradition" acknowledges that.

When I endorsed that very elegant paragraph of Jim's (reprinted by Greg) giving the reasons why the traditional process as a widespread phenomenon is scarcely in existence any longer, I was - of course - not making any kind of value judgement on modern compositions by songwriters working in the folk revival.