You have just made my point, friend Scoville. Terms are important in the study of things. It is important to have the term to apply to people such as Bess Cronin, and others already mentioned. It is a waypoint on the trail. It is how we preserve for future generations the music and the particular style or lyric. Without these waypoints, the music just becomes a jumbled mess. It is absolutely important.

When windbags try to redefine just to hear themselves talk and seem as though they know what they are talking about, they damage the music. It increases the danger of losing important distinctive points on the folk map. Music becomes homgenized and loses its vibrancy.

Mick