From the beginning of the 20th century, singers have been remembering (or not) for collectors. Any collector worth his or her salt has taken down what they were given, complete or not. If they are part of the standard repertoire and it is obvious that a large chunk of the story is missing, it is self evident that this is a fragment, or at tha very least, incomplete, as distinct from one that has been deleberately remade or adapted in some way.
Neither authenticity nor rejection should come into it.
We recorded four verses of Lord Gregory from a Travelling woman, an extreme rarety that we were delighd to get - it would have been nice to get the whole version, but a gem in our collection just the same.
Jim Carroll