very nice to hear that Mudlark, and are you still singing. strangely I think we English in signigicant numbers only really got into the childe ballads after Joan Baez came and sang so many of them for us. i think she or her song books were the first time I heard them referred to,that would be about 1964 as I say when I was around 15. Of course its silly generalising from one's own experiences, but thats how I remember it.
Seems you were into traditional material long before we were. Although - there was a radio programme singing together that went out to all the schools and we sang stuff from the Sharp collection then sat at our desks - the cornish nightingale, high germany, the keel row, etc.. there must have intellectuals at work - trying to get us in touch with our culture
they don't bother nowadays!