>> I have been worried for many years that the English "In The Tradition" idea reveres performances by elderly quivery singers and tries to copy the sound. Unfortunately of course we don't have recordings of these same singers when they where in their twenties with the fine strong voices they would surely have had.
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Several questionable assumptions there. One, that singers peak in their twenties and decline thereafter. My experience of singers in general, and of traditional songs in particular, is that they get better as they get older. A "strong voice" is not the main attribute needed to put a song across. And, down there in Miskin, I'm sure you're not unaware of Phil Tanner who in recordings made when he was in his seventies possessed range, accuracy, power and drama to shame many a younger singer.

The only seriously quivery singer I can think of offhand would be Fred Jordon, and that was a vibrato he cultivated, nothing to do with age or infirmity.

Then, as Shimrod pointed out, who exactly are the revival singers copying the quivery old men? I don't get to hear them. The Devil's Interval have certainly studied source recordings, but they've managed to distil the important bits from the styles, not tried to sing like old folks.

Jeff Davis gave a workshop at Pinewoods Camp some years ago in which participants were given a tape of various source singers and invited to copy the style of a singer of their choice. The idea was not to make the present-day singer into a clone of the traditional one, but to make people understand the kinds of techniques the old singers were using. Techniques that could then be incorporated into their own repertoires. Style matters.

If you want examinations in traditional music there is always the degree course in Newcastle (where The Devils' Interval and many other good young musicians have been studying) and others in Scotland and Ireland. I can't see EFDSS wanting to get involved in that kind of thing. I'm sorry Stallion had a bad experience with some Newcastle graduates but the ones I know are eager to learn, including from us folk veterans. A few years gigging experience might well benefit some of them, but I've also heard performers who after decades on the road can't string a coherent intro together or plan a set properly.

>> someone came up with the most stupid political remark ever followed by "I'm Gary Sprake, I know what I am talking about" (for the uninitiated - the then Leeds United goalkeeper) <<

For the uniniated, the Leeds United keeper famous for throwing the ball into his own net when under no apparent pressure. I don't think I'd trust him any more on politics than on goal custodianship.