"Folk songs have been created and proliferated by working people down the ages as entertainment and as ways of setting down experiences and emotions; they are an essential part of our cultural and social history."
   a half truth, they have been created by people whether they were working or of any class[ including in a few cases[Burns,MacColl] middle class,[ henry the eighth and green sleeves upper class]
They do not appear to be essential to the vast majority of the population, IN FACT THEY APPEAR TO BE AN IRRELEVANCE.
most of the population would find it hard to name a folk song apart from perhaps the wild rover.