Good point Malcolm, but my intent was to open up and perhaps have discussed the age of the songs we call traditional. I think this has happened a little, though you point is supported in that people didn't know where I was hoping to go.

What proportion of traditional songs can be traced further back than the middle of the 19C. The language in most of them seems quite modern. What proportion of those songs grew out of a much longer oral tradition? Are they simply songs written by people between 1800 and 1850+?