I was born and raised in England, and, until I became interested in folk music, pretty much by accident, I never ever came across English traditional song, music or dance in any form whatsoever.

The only exception was that I have a vague recollection of seeing Morris dancing in Norfolk in the late 1960s - and from what little I can remember, that was Cotswold dancing and must have been a revival side. Oh and we did some non-descript country dancing at school.

So for the first 20 years of my life, English traditional singing simply did not exist for me, despite having lived in a small rural village for a few years, and in a poor working class urban area for the rest of the time. It was never on the radio. My parents didn't sing at home. I had no opportunity to absorb a traditional English style through the "traditional process".

In the 24 years since, I have never once come across "English traditional singing" outside the confines of a folk club or Morris event. That suggests to me that there is little or no English traditional singing outside of the folk subculture.

Only a small number of people are born into the folk subculture and learn the songs in something approximating to the tradtional way. Most people who are interested in traditional music become so as adults, and go to clubs/festivals or buy CDs to find out more about it.

So the styles that exist are a product of the folk subcluture: a hybrid of ideas picked up from the few genuine traditional singers who "do the circuit"; from recordings; and mainly from hearing each other, and copying what sounds good to them. And what works.

We've all heard singers putting on a nasal Mummerset "folk voice" because they think it is de rigeur.

But if you step outside of the folk subculture and look at "England" you will find that a Geordie, a Norfolk "good ol' boy", a Cockney and a Cornishman all speak very differently. The rhythms of speech, the grammar, the syntax and the vocabulary vary enormously. I have a work mate who is from Barnsley and have had English customers complain that they couldn't understand her on the telephone.

Accents and dialects are still genuinely part of English regional culture, even though there is some "cross-contamination" these days.

If accents and dialects are that different, then it must follow that when singing was an established part of mainstream culture, the styles must have varied accordingly. Singing in Geordie or singing in Cockney must be as different as playing a guitar or playing a banjo. Different styles and ornaments will naturally "fall into place".

We are not one country, except for political and dadministrative purposes.