I keep, occasionally, dipping into this thread. And something recently caught my eye. One of the reasons that I stopped collecting songs (and began working in the so-called art-world)was because of a conversation that I had with a couple of academics. Basically they said that as I had never studied folk music at university I was not qualified to speak on the subject and that I should cease do so. The same applied to my writing about the subject. Frankly, I felt rather let down by people who I believed should have shown some encouragement. Over the years I have been approached by several people who were working on university degrees in folk music and I have always tried to help them - by allowing them to use some of my recordings in their dissertations etc. Now, if anyone rings me, I just put the phone down! This probably sounds like sour grapes, but it is really a sadness that things have come to this. When I first started getting interested in folk music the experts were Ewan MacColl and Bert LLoyd, both self-taught. I got to know Bert very well - a lovely, friendly and ever helpful man. But he was no sooner in his grave before people started criticising him. Over the years I have watched the folk scene turn into something very different from what it was in the 1950's, when I first became aware of the subject. I suppose that this should not surprise me, as change is a condition of all living things. But, like I say, it does sadden me.