No to all your suggetions Cap'n,
MacColl wrote numerous songs for 'The Travelling People' Radio Ballad. He didn't claim them to be of either traditional or Traveller origin. Brune turned up with a recording of himself pretending to be a Traveller woman singing Travellers songs and one of these was scripted in for Sheila Stewart to sing (and was actually recorded by her).
They were presented in the script as genuine Traveller songs.
At the last minute Brune revealed his practical joke and in order to make the information presented in the programme accurate Sheila's section was dropped - well done John Brune.
The Travelling People was probably the most important piece of work dealing with Travellers and their living conditions ever made - before or since, and it helped to put Travellers on the map. The Travellers we met thougt highly of the programme and the songs MacColl wrote for it (we've recorded severeal versions of Freeborn Man from Travellers.
Brune might well have sabotaged the whole thing had he not fessed up at the last minute, allowing the programme makers to carry out a damage limitation excecise.
Jim Carroll
PS Thank you Folkie dave; I wish I'd said that - in fact I did on another thread (without having read yours - sorry).