When I first heard Anne Briggs (on CD!), her singing turned my head around - hearing those words, sung in that way, I felt that this was the oral tradition.

Then I found out about "The recruited collier" and "Reynardine". TRC in particular is a lovely little song (Reynardine's a bit of a mess to my mind), but the oral tradition they ain't. It really shook the foundations, for me. I'd much rather get this stuff out in the open - it's not as if there won't be plenty of ballads left.