"As long as the music is kept, I don't really care which box it's put in."

That brings me nicely to a point which is almost always overlooked. British folk songs and ballads were 'rescued' from extinction, at the eleventh hour, by a small band of enthusiasts who thought they were worth preserving.

The songs were created by real people. No-one now knows who they were, why they wrote the songs, what their inspiration was, who or what influenced them. The secret died with them.

And the problem with disregarding 'contemporary' folksongs is that they are liable to go the same way.

In a recent thread there was a debate about which was Ewan MacColl's 'Dirty Old Town'. I was surprised at the number of people who didn't know that it's Salford. Who will know in 200 years?

But many of the modern creators are still amongst us - and some of their works will undoubtedly be regarded as folk songs by future generations (their songs may even go through 'the process'). The time to ask them about their songs is NOW.

We owe it to those who come after. Today is tomorrow's history. Let's not repeat the mistakes of the past.

PS will the 1954 definition still be around in 2208? Yeah right!