Well, it's damn well about time that someone asked this question. As Jimmy Durante used to say, "It's a consriracy, a conspiracy, I tell ya." When I moved to Dublin, in 1969, I was taken by all the bearded folksingers. I've been sporting 'em since '62, and I stood out in Philadelphia folk circles. Nowadays, facial hair is almost GI.
Might that be because folksingers cant speak above a whisker?

                      Mike Miller