"Cecil Sharp himself would've collected some of Lennons stuff, I expect."

You expect wrong, methinks. I love all these Mudcat people who re-invent Cecil Sharp in their own image. They think of him as some sort of big cuddly folk uncle.

Sharp was didactic, and prescriptive, and bowdlerised songs whose lyrics he felt "inappropriate", and was horrible to poor Mary Neal. He was the original Chief of the Folk Police.

That's not to say his role wasn't an invaluable one.