Even ignoring your sweeping global generalisations, Diane, please reconcile these two quotations from your postings.

"First, define this "tradition". It hasn't actually existed for a century, if it ever really did. Poncy, middle-class "collectors" weeded out what they thought was fit for parlour consumption, bowdlerised the lyrics, ironed out a few tunes and ignored or lost christ knows how much in the course of their meddling and muddling."

"blokes like my grandfather was a traditional musician for social and ritual dance before WWI. He returned and found no teams left to play for. He and his mates continued to perform music among themselves till his death in 1959. He never saw a f*lk club, nor even knew what the term "f*lk music" was. But he played it, and people like him continue to do so and will, whether on platforms or not."