I'm surprised that a couple of comments by Mo the Caller haven't received more comment.

'So many folk tunes crop up almost the same from different parts of Europe... Was there ever such a thing as 'English Folk'?

And, regarding 'Folk Song in England', that 'it contains folk songs sung in England' as opposed to 'English folk songs'.

There is certainly some overlap between historic English and European dance music repertoire, and there are the parallels F. J. Child recognized between Anglo-Scottish and European ballads and folk tales, but I know of no evidence that the English folk song repertoire closely resembles a comparable repertoire on the continent, even if we discount the obvious language barrier. Are tunes from, say, the 'Dives and Lazarus' family widespread throughout Europe? Perhaps they are - please enlighten me.

There is much more overlap in terms of folk song and dance music between England, Scotland and Ireland, but are you suggesting no distinction can be drawn between those repertoires and styles? You might encounter some objections from across the border, or the Irish Sea...

Both books titled 'Folk Song in England' - Lloyd/RVW and Roud/Bishop - are based on a repertoire of songs written mostly by mostly anonymous but almost certainly English composers, and passed down generationally in England. Shanties are definitely a multi-cultural phenomenon, but then they arose in an environment of geographical and racial mixing, which (again historically) isn't true of most of the repertoire in England.

Where we go from here is another matter. Nick Griffin's unwelcome attentions aside, nationalism has played no prominent role in English folk music since the days of Cecil Sharp. I'm fine with EFDSS involving itself with more diverse acts, and nor do I have a stonewall preference for 'English' over 'of England' - even though I doubt whether such a fine adjustment in terminology will actually attract anyone who wasn't attracted before. 'Folk Arts', to me doesn't adequately describe what EFDSS does, nor what I'm interested in, and this all looks to me like a rebranding exercise aimed simply at disposing of a name some of those involved find cumbersome and anachronistic.