Hampshire singer Richard Hall, from whom George Gardiner collected a lot of songs, was definitely influenced by the process, as Gardiner took Dick Hall to meet Baring Gould, who gave Dick a copy of his "Songs of the West" collection, complete with piano accompaniments. These songs became part of his future repertoire, accompanied by Rector's daughter playing the piano. Like most singers and entertainers, Dick was clearly delighted to find such a wealth of new material, and I doubt he gave any thought to tradition, authenticity or the like - just liked singing good songs.
Saro