Thanks guest. The "Granny's Armchair" story is very interesting. I'd like to throw out another question - what determines "oral tradition"?   I know the textbook definition, but could that source singer have learned the music hall song in the oral tradition, and is it possible that they could have learned the Child Ballad from a published source?    What is the difference?

Please understand, I am not trying to be argumentative here - I am seriously trying to understand the differences for myself, and I am sure that there are others here in the U.S. that might have the same questions.