"The word "folk," however, has no such clear reference."
Yest it does, in fact it articulates in an analytically way what the older generations of songs grew up with.
Not every singer knew Barbara Allen otherwise we would have thousands rather than the couple of hundred versions we have of it.
They recognised it as a type rather than an individual song - this happened to us over and over again while collecting.
Mary Delaney, a blind Travelling woman, gave us somewhere over a hundred songs - she probably knew twice that many.
She referred to them as "My daddy's songs" that his how she defined them.
Her father gave us less than half-a-dozen.
Walter Pardon referred to his hundred or so folk songs as 'folk songs' another definition
Kerry Traveller, Mikeen McCarthy, called them 'Fireside Songs' and set them apart from his pop and C.& W. songs and his Victorian Parlour ballads - another definition.
Some singers referred to them as 'Come All Ye's', or 'Sean Nós', or 'local', or 'family'..... all definitions which distinguished them from other types.
It seems the modern folkie revival is the only group who have problems getting their heads around this practice - an example of education not necessarily bringing wisdom perhaps.
As far a the 'old Scotch ballad, Barbara Allen' - there is a certain smugness in dismissing Pepys statement out-of-hand.
Despite the fact that he made it his reference to it nearly four centuries ago, we are really no nearer to knowing its origins than he was.
There is no reason on earth why the song shouldn't have originated in Scotland in spite of the highly speculative 'Villiers' theory.
The song was certainly popular there, as it was throughout the English speaking world.
Would be fascinated if the knockers had a better idea of its origins than the rest of us.
Jim Carroll