We visited Duncan and Linda several times at their home hoping to record tales - at the time that was what he was known for.
When he found we were also interested in songs and ballads, he insisted on singing them - fine by us.
Duncan explained that he was putting together some ballads he only partly remembered by visiting family members and Traveller friend (pretty much as Walter Pardon did when he started to put his family's repertoire together)
Personally, I can't see that this in any way makes either singer's repertoire suspect.
Jim Carroll