Well I'm glad to hear you are not a discourager, Paul. But there does seem to be a coterie of countesses who assert: -

1) "Folk" is a dirty word
2) This is because the people who sing it aren't good enough
3) They are not good enough because they are not "professional"
4) As a result they alienate people
5) Drinking from a tankard or being a "folkie" furthers such alienation.

I do not accept that those people are entitled to sit in judgement on me or anyone else.