"Flawed maybe, but neither S or A., but arrived at after a great deal of personal experience,"

Well, perhaps, but if, to continue my religious analogy, that committee was the Synod of Folk, setting the parameters of orthodoxy, then there will always be a Martin Luther nailing his articles to the cathedral door, to say nothing of the vast array of Ranters, Quakers, Muggletonians and Fifth Monarchists eager to turn the world upside down. And, of course, there will also be what I seem to be becoming: the folk agnostics and athiests, Perhaps, to plagiarise Mr Lennon, it would be better if we could

Imagine there's no folk songs,
It's easy if you try
Just lots of people singing
Great songs they can't define....

"The kind of songs that folk revivalists have generally concentrated on are a bit different, though. These were songs - many of which actually were the popular songs of the 18th century or before - that took such a hold on the populace that they were still being used for diversion, public and private, two hundred years later."

Yes, of course, but in 200 years' time you'll proably still find people singing 'There'll be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover' still oblivious to the fact there have never been bluebirds in the UK.