The other thread had a very similar name with the word "songwriter" in it.

Sid Kipper explains the evolution of folk music in outline, thus:

"My grandfather was a singer. So he taught my father to sing. But of course, human nature beign what it was, he wanted to keep a few of the best songs for himself. So he did, and he never taught them to my father. Then he died. My father he did the same. And that's how we got left with the rubbish we call traditional"