Thanks Drummer - chimes with how I felt after reading it. I suppose my lazy view is - I want somebody to tell me what is true and what is not - and that is not really possible.

I want to believe the general idea of a pan-European, and beyond, genra of rural and working class folk tradition that has been passed on for hundreds if not thousands of years but I suspect lots of what we call traditional songs were made quite recently.

Cheers