The fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, was once asked whether he thought of his books as "literature". Terry replied that becoming "literature" is a result of a vote taken fifty years after your death. He preferred not to worry about that, and just got on with trying to write books for people to enjoy in the here and now. (Which he does, very well.)

Perhaps all of us who sing, or play, or dance, in any style that might be called traditional, should stop fretting about what label to file our stuff under, and wondering whether succeeding generations will continue to cherish it. Maybe we should just get on with doing it as well as we can, for anyone who happens to be watching or listening, and let democracy - now or later - decide if it counts as "folk", and whether it deserves to survive.

Wassail!