I don't know how many countries there are on the world and how many of them have multiple communities, but Bountyhound hasn't heard more than 0.00000000001% of the songs that even just make up traditional song, let alone folk song in the genre.

Jim. I take it you disagree with the fool who said a few posts up that folk songs aren't copyrighted but are in the public domain then? I know you disagree with everything anyone says but at least defend your own posts, you dozy bugger.

This narrowness that folk can only be a narrow class of oral tradition regardless of what it sings about is exceedingly disrespectful to what the vast majority call folk. They are talking about a subset called traditional folk, and then go as far as suggesting it only refers to poor people.

That's the problem with elitist attitudes. You need people to patronise and speak about in a condescending manner, in the tradition of Sharp, Vaughan Williams and Britten.