Les, McGrath, Martin, Harvey - all right on the mark. It's the 'best' songs that survive the years that become 'traditional'. We have no way of knowing the thousands (maybe millions??) of songs sung in other centuries which never made it through time, were composed, sung, forgotten - only the best ones survived into the 20th and 21st Centuries.

The blurring of precisely how certain songs came into being is already starting with 20th-century songs as Harvey pointed out with his reference to 'It Doesn't Matter Anymore', and as witnessed in the 'Fiddler's Green' thread. I wonder how many people can name the writer of, for instance, 'Tipperary'? (June Tabor fans may not enter this competition!) - a very small percentage I'll bet. The traditionalisation process is under way - and in a couple of hundred years, who knows..........................??

Johnny :0)