Big Al, in his usual eloquent manner, sums up most of the things that I was about to say re Ewan MacColl that is conducive to this thread. In mentioning "The New City Songster" there is a quote from the January 1972 edition which might be what Murkey is looking for:-"How is it possible that so many old songs not only lasted over centuries of social chaos and geographical transplantation, but still fascinate the most creative and receptive elements of our urban society, the young people? In answering such questions and analysing folksong styles, language and melodies we can find logical criteria for creating new songs which, we hope will ALSO last."   
I consider MacColl and Dylan both to be writers of equal genius and my only regret about MacColl was that he chose so often to dismiss Dylan's work.
A similar regret is that the likes of Hootenanny and Cockney seem only to exist in order to deter people posting interesting queries such as this one.