I'm half inclined to agree - particularly when you look at the anodyne and bowdlerised work of collectors like Broadwood, Sharp and Baring-Gould. Ultimately, however, I think material must be written down - if it ain't recorded in some way, it will die. What's needed, perhaps, is a more flexible approach and an end to some of the pedantry that can clog up the more traditional traditionalists to the extent that they want to put songs and tunes in formaldehyde like lifeless medical specimens. Certainly I've often smiled wryly at the more pedantic Morris musicians berating others for not playing THE authentic Bampton, Adderbury or whatever versions of a tune, when it's quite clear that every musician over time (particularly when learning and playing by ear) will adapt tunes. Therein, maybe, is the answer, in that we should cherish and celebrate the diverse versions of any tune or song and remember that the oral tradition is bny its nature imprecise and flexible. One of the things I particularly love about traditional material is the way that, over the centuries, a process of "fogging" goes on, where historical events or broadsides are slowly transmuted into songs with a broader appeal, rather like the way water works on a pebble to smooth off the rough edges and bring out the inner beauty. (Pretentious, Moi?!)