Sorry about the typo -"and" should read "under" in the penultimate sentence of the previous post.

To be even clearer, the use of "Hootenannies" in place of Ballads and Blues (at least as listed in SING) occurred in 1959 but the use of "Hootenannies" in connection with the Ballads and Blues earlier than that.

Eric Winter wrote an article about the Ballads and Blues in the 3 May 1958 issue of THE GIARDIAN (then THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, of course). In it, he said that "The programmes are called 'Hootenannies'" - and goes on to explain what that means.

That particular paragraph ends with the following sentence:-

"'One rule', says Ewan MacColl, who acts as informal master of ceremonies: 'English people sing English songs, Americans sing American songs, and Scots sing Scottish songs'".

Perhaps this, from the last paragraph of Eric Winter's article, may be of interest, too:

"Folk-song is no longer the exclusive province of cycling parsons and genteel schoolmistresses. It has become successful entertainment and a profitable commercial venture in the West End of London".

The Ballads and Blues, a "profitable commercial venture"? Bring back the cycling parsons and the genteeel schoolmistresses.