Dave;
I am aware of Pete Elliot's response to Ewan's term - I find no offense in it and can't think of a better one.
I'm not even sure MacColl intended it to be taken in the way that it later became to be used, or if he intended it to be applied to singers like Jack Elliot - look at all the other singers he used on The Song Carriers; JoeHeaney, the MacDonagh family, Elizabeth Cronin, The Stewarts......
I was a catch-all phrase to cover them all.
Jim Carroll