I am happy to accept that tradition is a process. I just don't believe it is as dead as you believe.

Traditional tunes are still subject to the process.

If the folk process has stopped then you have to accept that the songs to which it applied are now frozen in time.

If they are then we will only be singing the frozen version (or we aren't singing at all). Since we are singing the process continues. Some of the traditon bearers (a phrase I prefer) are still there and others will follow them, from within their communities.

I know the story of how the people you were collecting from stopped singing Jim but at the same time others were collecting from other people and they were still singing (and in some cases still are).

The hunt community still sings around here and so do the commiunity which meet at shepherd's meets. I alluded to this earlier. The folkies trend to ignore the hunters because of the way they chose to spend their free time (when not singing) and I am not supporter of hunting but their singing tradition does continue and as older people go out at the top end so to speak - younger ones from that community do join in.

I interviewed a fiddler on my radio programme a couple of weeks ago who comes from a long line of traditonal musicians and singers both in his family and his community and he learnt material from both by ear from a very early age. By any definition he is a traditional fiddler (and singer) unless you can tell me what stops him from being considered one. I suspect that that same "community" is almost certainly still producing similar musicians and singers.

He is 29. Are you really saying that the folk process as far as he is concerned has stopped?