In the very excellent booklet accompanying the Fred Jordan CD "A Shropshire Lad", Derek Schofield addresses some of these points. In particular, a review by Peter Bellamy is reproduced which discusses Fred's choice of dress, and its effect on his audience. Bellamy calls Fred Jordan a "shrewd performer", and suggests that he probably did wear his working clothes to "appeal to pre-conceived notions of 'rusticity' so dear to to many hearts on the folk scene."

But he also suggests that many source singers were conscious of themselves as "performers", and worked to be the best performers they could be. Bellamy adds that, to many people, "the idea of the country singer as an accomplished professional, continually polishing and improving his repertoire and performance is pure anethema. ('What do you mean, Harry Cox used to practice?')"

Now, I suppose the interesting question is whether the singers in question would have had that same consciousness of themselves as "performers" had it not been for the revival, and the resulting legion of fans and collectors who took their music and performance completely out of its original context. How did this change what they did? It's impossible to say, but I don't think it's too much of a leap to assume that some change certainly took place.

With regard to repertiore, I think it's right and healthy that traditional singers continued to add to theirs, and didn't restrict themselves. Not that my opinion matters: Ian Russell, Will Duke and Rod Stradling are quoted in the booklet as saying the same thing. The idea that a traditional singer ought to have some sort of static repertoire does a disservice to them as artists.

Of course, it's interesting that Fred Jordan was asked to learn a traditional song, "The Seeds of Love", to sing at an EFDSS festival in 1971. The song became a staple of his repertoire. I think this throws up some interesting questions. It's not quite the same thing as a source singer hearing a good song from outside the tradition and deciding to learn it; it's a source singer being asked to learn a traditional song by participants in the revival. While there was a specific reason for doing so (it was a special anniversary concert, and The Seeds of Love has a very special place in the history of song collection) it still speaks of a kind of direct intervention that some might feel uncomfortable with.