"fundamentalist hysteria"
Ballads like Barbara Allen, (described by Pepys in the middle of the 17th century as "that old Scotch song") have been passed from singer to singer throughout the English speaking world for around four centuries.
Ancient ballads like The Blind Beggar (early 17th century) have been discovered in the repertoires of non-lterate Traveller singers whittled down from unsingable epics to 6-7-8 beautifully concise versions.
The Unfortunate Rake is not only to be found in hundreds of versions, but has divided into two distinct types, 'The Bad Girl's Lament' and 'The Unfortunate Rake'.
Fifty plus of Child's 'English and Scottish Popular Ballads' have been recorded from field singers, (Travellers, small farmers, land labourers, - rural and urban workers in general) in hundreds of distinct versions in the Irish Republic over the last 40 years.
Irish Traveller (Wexford) singers from the same family have been found to have at least half-a-dozen DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT versions of The Outlandish Knight, (probably the most popular ballad in that community).
Ballads such as Johnny Scott, The Maid and the Palmer, Sweet William and Fair Margaret, The Demon Lover, Prince Robert...... many more long disappeared from the British repertoire have been discovered in Ireland.
Songs transmitted via the oral tradition invariably take on the characteristics of the area where they move to, occupationally, socially and geographically. The names of the characters withing the songs change constantly and the as do the locations.
Relatively new ANONYMOUS songs (within the lifetimes of the singers, and sometimes within as little as five years of the event described in the song) have been recorded from both Travellers and rural Irish singers.
We have oral descriptions of singers and storytellers (Traveller and settled) passing on their songs and stories and some time later hearing them in multi-versions.
The FACT that there exists a massive repertoire of songs for whom the composers, and even the geographical origins is unknown is totally unprecedented, certainly in the western world.
Added:
The fact that this massive repertoire of orally transmitted songs, stretching back for up to four centuries and across the English-speaking world (and beyond, if you take the ballads into consideration) is related by style, content and function indicates a common process of composition - a 'school' of songmaking. The fact that none of these songmakers have been named makes it clear that they are a product of a 'folk process', as is generally accepted by anybody who hs examined the subject.
"I've been subject to a barrage of name-calling, bile, vitriol, and downright nastiness."
SO'P
"And thus we find the Sycophantic Mollusc leaving his wretchedly non-constructive divisive slime-trail where e'er he slithers"
"So slither off and pour your bitter bile elsewhere before someone stamps on your sorry arse. "
SO'P
SO'P (up to this point Bryan Creer had taken litle part in the discussion, and when he did he made a mild comment by refering to your "ramblings"
"sloppy, selective & agenda driven field-work "
SO'P
"You are one very sad dead sheep, old man."
"yet as anally narrow as the more religiously hysterical reactions on this thread would indicate."
SO'P
"In Shimrod's book (and I suspect he actually has one, and a nice fountain pen and leather elbow pads) "
Glueman
"folkies are a bunch of complete C-words after all"   
Glueman"
And then there's the classic;
"For the second time can we stop 'give me an example',"
Glueman