>> Interestingly, here we have an example where Nic's editorial interventions have caused some ambiguity. It is possible to think that Musgrave is a commoner in this version, and some people do think that, as is obvious from this thread. <<

Much the same could be said for 'Geordie', depending on whether or not the version includes the line "because he came from royal blood" in the final verse. As I tried to suggest above (regarding collected texts of 'Young Hunting'), this kind of ambiguity, or deliberate alteration - call it what you will - is not confined to the recent folk revival. However, deliberate tweaks like that are significant in the political context of the revival. It isn't hard to see how a little omission that in Nic Jones' 'Musgrave' might give the protagonist added status as Working Class Hero. Just as A. L. Lloyd, when assembling his version of 'Handweaver and the Factory Maid' omitted the line "The factory maid is like a queen, with handloom weavers she'll not be seen" - instead choosing to depict the factory worker as of lower status.

And didn't somebody change the 'Greenland Whale Fishery' so that the captain grieved more for his lost whale than for the dead crewmen? As a singer I don't actually think there's much wrong with subtly adapting a song to suit your audience and the current context - it's just when someone else comes along and draws sociological conclusions about past history from a version subject to clandestine modern alterations that we start to get into tricky territory - as some of Nerd's own research illustrates very well.