My point being that there is a whole world of difference between the singing of a Harry Cox or a Davie Stewart and that of a Ewan MacColl or a Peter Bellamy - and that this is a difference that really ought to be acknowledged and respected. The best, therefore, any revival singer can do is to sing honestly, in their own voice, without paying too much notice of the assorted affectations of revival singers who have distorted the picture and left us with a somewhat wonky legacy as a result.

As the Revival began to take hold and interest in folksong grew, he began to feel that, as heirs to a broken down culture, it was necessary for Revival singers to equip themselves to be able to sing the entire spectrum of traditional song and not limit themselves to the fairly small repertoires that most traditional singers had.

You say you wrote that, old man? Well, its as fair an apology for revival conceits as any I've read and underlines the extent to which The Revival not only obscured the glories of The Tradition, but misrepresented them for its own vainglorious ends - specifically, Ewan MacColl becoming so mired in his own myth he effectively abandons traditional song altogether in favour of his self-penned patronising tripe about Aparthied, and all in the name of Folk. So keep the faith, old man - you are an admirable disciple defending your flatulent faith whilst diligently seeing off any dissidents and heretics by mocking and riculing anything that doesn't fit with your blinkered vision of what you think folk song ought to be, whilst, rather sadly, missing the point entirely as to what it actually is.