I thought Baring-Gould might have been a candidate for that, Villan. I was later put right by our most knowlegable Devonian (who's name might lead one to think of Cornwall) contributer. Apparently he collected songs so that they could be locked away in dark corners of museums so they may never be seen or heard again by mere mortals.

He along with others were almost succesful in this evil plot but they were finaly thwareted entirely by the efforts of Show Of Hands who against all odds restored English traditional folk music to the general public.