Over this side of the Irish Sea Tom Munnelly would be a main influence - knitting machinist, singer turned collector - awarded a doctorate by Galway University a month or so before his death. Even the early collectors - the hangovers from the Victorian era, actually got their hands dirty at the 'folkface'. Sharp and Karpeles - the favourite target of knockers like Sean, traipsed around the Somerset and into the Appalachians (and in Karpeles case, into Newfoundland) and brought back a goldmine of songs which they attempted to make sense of.
What about Peter Kennedy, you never mentioned him, the only man to collect neilidh boyle