Tedium is in the eye of the beholder, Roger. If the thread you mention is the one I'm thinking of, it had actually taken some quite interesting (IMO) turns over the past few days. The fact is that this forum exists to discuss folk songs: it could be a matter of helping someone out with an elusive lyric, or arguing the merits of particular performers, or it could be about song history - a topic which a lot of people who enjoy old songs seem to want to know more about.

Of course there are entrenched opinions, repetitive points and sometimes bad temper, but discussion is what we come here for. As has been said many a time in the past, you don't have to waste your own time reading it if you don't want to.