The songs were the products of many hands and mouths in any one given community.
The implication of 'master craftsman' is that they were a product of one gifted individual, which is certainly not the case.
Apart from anything else, they were by no means all masterpieces, even if some of the poorer ones survived for one reason or another.
However, we seem to be making some progress as SO'P now seems to be accepting the exisance of 'folk' raher thaan attributing it to the imaginations of academics and collectors who, despite their shorcomings, got off their bums and took a look for themselves
Jim Carroll