Shimrod,

I'm not sure I disagree with anything you have said. I think the point I was making above is two fold:

1. The people who kept sangs alive through the 18 & 19 C are not much like those who sing those songs now whilst the people who kept tunes alive through those times are socially and musically much more like those of us who play tunes today.

2. Because tunes come with much less social baggage people tend to play them simply because they like them.

As to what we choose to sing, I have about an octave plus 2 on a good day and less breath and I don't have any great tone . This limits what I can do. I like daft songs because I can carry off the humour and I like to hear people laugh. I, like you and I suspect most singers, don't imagine myself to be a sailor a pit disaster victim.

"I certainly sympathise with the politically and economically oppressed of the present and of past ages"

I agree and I have generally found it to be the case in most song circles, although, and this is a point I have made before, less so in dance circles.

I wouldn't want to exaggerate any of these points. I think much is lost when we push contending opinions to each extreme.

Cheers

Les