I collected a version of Child.73 (Lord Thomas/Fair Eleanor) in 2003 from a singer in Goderich, Ontario, who had left the states (Virginia) to avoid the Vietnam draft. Ballad singing had almost died out in his own community and been replaced by C&W which was seen as "less trashy" than singing mountain ballads. His wife also didn't approve of singing round the table, which his family had done in his youth and it nearly died out in his family. Luckily, his teenage daughter knew he sang and took an interest and is now sining the family ballad repertoire in her own right.

It's definitely alive. :)