Again, Ruth - bang on the nail.

There are two values to be respected in a tradtional work. 1) How it presents as a tune or song today, and that's partly about how well you can adapt and develop it for a modern audience (this is the value that most people understand), and 2) what we can learn from it (which is what some forget).

You only have a right to adapt and present another writer's work (even if it's now in the public domain) for value 1) if you also respect value 2) - so that others can still go back and do more research later.

Beacause it's not yours. It's everyone's.

It's like archeology.

Artifacts are no good in the ground. You need to dig them up and stick them in a museum or make a TV programme out them - and use all sorts of modern interpretive material to make them interesting to people.

BUT, oh but but but, when you do so, you MUST record how they lay, because someone else, later, may be able to interpret valuable information from that seemingly insignificant data.

That's all I'm saying.

Do what you like to a song, but try to do it well.

Try to learn as you go along - you'll be the one to benefit.

And always, ALWAYS say where you got a song from.