Another example: I really love the lyrics in a lot of Orange songs, as found in corners of the repertoires of Len Graham, Paddy Tunney and in Sam Henry's Songs of the People book.

Those songs are often chock full of bizarre references to Templars, and arcane rites. (There are northern irish Masonic songs that have a similarly occult pomp to them.)

It's one thing for Len Graham to sing them. But for me they've got too much recent-history baggage for an Englishman to sing them. I'd have to ask myself, 'would I sing this in an Irish folk club?', and the answer's no. And, as far as I'm concerned, if you wouldn't sing it there, then it's disingenuous/cowardly to sing it anywhere else.

In the case of US Civil War songs, I imagine you'd be OK, that these days, singing them would only be contentious or divisive in very particular corners of the southern US. But I really wouldn't know, I leave that to the much better informed US residents on here...