"In which case, listening to a recording of MacColl singing a traditional Scottish song in that affected accent he used when singing them must be very difficult for you Brian."

I'm not about to defend anyone singing a ballad in such a mannered style that you can't make out the words, and I've criticized MacColl's floating accent on here before. Better to 'sing in your own voice', as Harry Boardman used to say.

But.... Ballads in Scots are always going to contain words foreign to an English listener - you can struggle even with a very clear singer like Ray Fisher. And, if we're judging performance on the basis of ' a good noise', then I have to say that some of MacColl's Scots ballads are pretty stirring.