You know, I actually agree with most of that. (Are you and Suibhne taking turns on the good cop/bad cop rota?) I think there's a bit more to the trad. repertoire than simply being "historic songs", but it's fairly debatable. (Try bringing a rugby song to a singaround. Wait a minute, I'm arguing against myself now...)

I'm just being selfish: I love the songs* & would like to have more chances to hear & sing them. And as we know, sometimes if it says "folk" over the door you're in for a good blast of the Old Songs, but other times... not. Mostly, in fact, not. In practice "folk" seems to consist partly of stuff I love, partly of stuff I quite enjoy and partly of stuff that sends me to the bar; the Beech singaround has an 80/20/0 split on an average night, but that's very unusual (20/50/30 is probably more typical). Maybe we need a Revival...

*No hyperbole - I've never heard a traditional song I didn't like. Well, maybe one or two. I'm not wild about John Blunt. But the rest**, I like.

**As God is my witness, after typing these words I sat here for two solid minutes trying to think of another traditional song I don't like***. There is perhaps such a thing as taking Mudcat too seriously.

***Got one! Hares on the Mountain, that's bobbins. Hares on the Mountain, John Blunt, can't be doing with them. The rest are fine.