I'LL TRY AGAIN ....

I think there is a tendancy to judge Bert by modern standards given the knowledge we have today. He was a man who was totally committed to promoting folk music to a relatively hostile and uninterested population.
Would anyone have taken him seriously if he had admitted to doctoring somgs?
Given that the songs had been developed through the oral tradition (ie many versions across the country or continents) did it really make any difference?

I doubt that he envisaged a world where access to source material was so readily available and once having created the myth how could he retract without losing all credibility?

Don't lose sight of the enormous impact he had ...... his only fault was that he was human.