We really need to remember how recent is the history of such recordings. I recall as a very small child being on the floor of my parents' bedroom on Sunday mornings listening to Peter Kennedy's broadcasts going out on the only wireless set in the house. (It was actually his recording of Sarah Makem singing As I Roved Out that was used as a signature tune).

Yet the way they are done now (50+ years on) is vastly different to then. So how much are they likely to have changed and been altered again and again over the preceding several hundred years? We'll really never know, but the vast range of variants of this song alone gives some indication. The arrival of the digital age and the setting of recorded music in . . . well . . . bits is actually a point at which tradarts do get set in stone if we're not careful. I think it's very important to be aware of all the different forms in which tunes and songs have been collected, and to select very carefully what we will use, how we will use it, and how we will remain aware of the regional and stylistic variants.