He was a bit - didn't detract from his work on sea songs though - Shanties from the Seven Seas remains the most important descriptive work on the subject in my opinion and the much neglected 'Sailortown' carries a great deal of background information which I still find helpful for both singing and understanding them
The best of these people had weaknesses which some people use to undermine the important things they had to say - Ewan, Bert and 'Dear Cecil' are prime examples
Jim