Reynard, i think he has substantially overstated both the body of work he has collected, its quality and its uniqueness in order to promote himself and his own singing career. He has made grandiose claims which, as far as I can tell, have never been substantiated or even put to the test because the "collection" has never been presented in any format that can be appropriately scrutinised.

On the song collectors' website there were Gypsy singers singing Adele, and several songs by Cuthbert Noble (a very fine singer, but he hardly needed to be either discovered or collected). The whole thing feels like smoke and mirrors to me.

If and when the whole body of work is presented, cross-referenced against something like the Roud collection, and put into context next to the work of other contemporary collectors, I will be delighted to revise my opinion. In the meantime, I feel that Sam is presenting himself as something he isn't, and is taking a lot of people for a ride.