Very interesting thread.

Just a couple thoughts:

Greg said:

>>>The modern "folk-singer" has never been happy with the gung-ho songs (or the hunting songs, for that matter)<<<

Historian Roger Manning, in his book "Hunters and Poachers" notes that poaching was often a form of social resistance and protest to hierarchical land-use practices in the late medieval and early modern period in England, and this political perspective made its way into many of the hunting ballads (and of course, the Robin Hood ballads).

And while I'm aware of the Left's involvement in the folk-revival movement in Britain in the 50s, there is also, unfortunately, sometimes a frightening nationalist/racist fringe attracted to concepts of "folk" and "tradition". Certainly, the Nazis drew upon Germanic "folk" traditions and imagery.

I run an on-line Robin Hood discussion group and I'm horrified that, on a couple of occasions, white supremacists have tried to join the group, perceiving Robin as a racially specific "Anglo-Saxon" hero. Ick!

And, as a pagan, I'm always leary of those who insist on practicing a supposedly "pure" religious tradition, such as Asatru or Odinism, rather than a more eclectic, cross-cultural one.

And then, there's the infamous misogyny of Cecil Sharpe (although I've read somewhere that the "all-male" Morris stance actually came not from Sharp himself, but from an associate who had links to the Nazi party -- sorry, can't remember the man's name -- does anyone know who I'm thinking of?). Indeed, recent academic research, such as some of the papers collected in the bookStep Change, suggests a link between Nazi folk "scholarship" and the English Folk Dance revival.

Cheers, Hester