> They learned their tunes by ear, and woe betide anyone who played out of order. Instruments were handed down from father to son, along with the tunes and their dynamics.

True in Ireland too. Packie used to say that the worst insult you could say of a musician is that he or she "stuck the dancers to the floor". Some of the most talented & brilliant players alive were never formally trained. And - as a lot of people reading this will know - playing for dancers knocks the spots off you, fast. There need be nothing "rough" about self-taught local folk (who have a tradition to learn from), then or now. Phrasing, dynamics, and a sense of pitch are things you have (or lack) a natural feel for.