For my own part, if anything, knowing the history of the song adds a dimension of intimacy which brings you closer to the err 'peasant' (as that's the term in the OP) origins of the song itself. Otherwise it's just a nice pretty girl or boy singing some oldy worldy sounding song.

In fact what can also be nice, is reading what different revival singers have to say about the same traditional song that they've each sung (one of the reasons I quite like to peruse the following website), and the way it affected them individually. Take for example one song I've started learning: Poor Murdered Woman The artists who recorded this song, are themselves interested in knowing and speaking about their responses to the history of the song, I found Shirley Collins sleeve notes especially interesting. Note also the variations listed.