Re Gammon, Atkinson, Boyes & Harker, Jim wrote: "I'm not aware that any on the top list (not sure about Vic) spent any real time questioning traditional singers face-to-face - if they have, I have come across no accounts of it."

None of the above is a song collector, so this is hardly surprising - you could say the same of F J Child, but that wouldn't disqualify him as a ballad scholar.

Dave Atkinson has however published some fascinating material regarding the 'backstories' that singers interviewed by collectors used to contextualize their songs. His account of the 'Shakespeare's Ghost' version of 'Unquiet Grave' is intriguing and rather moving.