by improving the songs,he is telling the story in the most compelling way,he is honouring all the previous song carriers and the dead

TThere are no shining teeth in any of the pre-Lloyd versions of "Reynardine"; there's no collier in the original version of "The recruited collier" (quote: If owre the stibble fields I gang/I think I see him ploughin,/And ev'ry bit o' bread I eat,/It seems o' Jemmy's sowing). These changes sometimes make for a better song - I don't think anyone's ever denied that - but they certainly don't honour the sources.

Les has been asking a very straightforward question: "was this song written by people in its time or made up or seriously changed recently - because that's not the same." You may think the difference doesn't matter - that's up to you (and hopefully there's plenty of room here for all of us). The point is that it is a difference.