Jom Carroll.
Thankyou...I think we are just arguing semantics here. And I certainly think that if one was to pick a year, 1830, is vastly preferable to 1954!!
Of course the work that you, and many others do is absolutely vital.
In my own way, I'm an archivist too. Not in the way that you see it, but in the audio field, as and when I can.
I'm glad that you've heard the new "Folk Ballads". For myself they have more relevance than the Parker ones, because they refer to subjects that are of the "now". When Parker/McColl did the originals, I was only 6 or 7 years old. But I certainly remember the dismembering of the shipyards, the steelworks, etc,etc.
as I've said before, You research the old, combine it with the new, and end up with the future. That's the way it is. People can rage against it, but, that's what will happen.
I, for one, trust that people in the future will, whilst on the one hand, take the music in their own direction, many of them will respect where it came from.
So, I doff my cap to you, and John Howson, Reg Hall, and many others for the work you do.
If there was any justice, then the EFDSS would get shit loads of lottery funding, and a central archive could be funded...(could even include Doc Rowes stuff too)