I hear the declaration, 'Methodists wiped out folk songs' too often. Yes, the Methodists did a lot of harm to the folk tradition; instruments were particularly susceptable. However, in Wales, many folk tunes were used as hymn tunes - and vice versa. "Ieuan Gwyllt" was one composer and hymn book editor who did a lot along these lines. Rhidian Griffiths, formerly of the National Library of Wales, has written a lot on this topic but everything I have of his is a) in Welsh and b) packed, as I am in the process of moving back to Canada. Unfortunately, all the reference material I could use to elaborate on the Welsh situation falls under the 'b)' category so you'll just have to take my word for it, for at least 12 weeks!

Still, if you look in your hymn books, you'll probably see tunes tagged as "Welsh traditional" or "Old Welsh" or similar. Those will be from folk tunes, airs or ballad/carols - the 3 categories we use.

sian