Maybe we should post folksongs we think are archtypical and see which one hits the mark most often. Of the top of my head I think Jack The Tarry Sailor, along the lines of the previous posts.

It begins "As I walked out one May morning/By the seaside as I was a wandering/'Twas there I saw a pretty maid all with her father talking" (ever notice how folksongs always use "all with" in this sense; you never hear people talk like this outside of folksong lyrics). The father is upset that she is in love with a sailor; wants her to drop sailor; Jack then shows up fresh from sea with "five hundred bright guineas" which he drops into his true love's apron; old father has a remarkable change in attitude towards Jack; Jack and true love get married; song ends with Jack enjoining us to "drink boys drink and pass the grog about / For tonight we shall be merry.".