"When the club scene started folk song as a living art was as dead ass Monty Python's Parrot "

In Scotland and Ireland too(I believe), there was always music and song around. Perhaps not all of the variety which we (now) or the "folk Police" might approve but it was always there.

Of course, the folk revival and clubs were very important but there was still a form of "living tradition" going on in Scotland and I'm not just referring to the "White Heather" type of thing. Not that the latter was all that bad either. We had people like Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor, The Corries, and quite a few more who actually predated the folk club scene although one or two clubs did emerge as early as the late fifties.

It's quite possible that folk and traditional music might have taken off in the sixties in some other way if folk clubs hadn't existed. It has certainly flourished and evolved in other areas in recent years beyond the club scene.

Of course, how the music develops won't necessarily suit everyone but folk clubs are only a part it.