Cap'n,

I never claimed that Jim Carroll is God (perish the thought!). But he and Pat McKenzie have collected hundreds of folk songs over several decades and, surely, that entitles them to have some sort of view about what folk song is or isn't? Personally, I would tend to give such a view a bit more credence than the view of someone who has not collected hundreds of folk songs, or, for that matter, the view of someone who has a conceived a notion that he/she finds pleasing and now demands that everyone else uncritically endorse.

I wouldn't be surprised (or at all upset!) to find that the other people you mention have slightly, or even radically, different views from Jim and/or Pat. If any of those people chose to share their views with me I would listen with great interest and think carefully about what they have to say. I certainly would not fly into a paddy and start accusing them of having "closed minds" (even if I should happen to disagree with them)!