...and, along with the violin, the redorder/English flute is still one of the best chromatic instruments for mimicking the human voice, including folk singing, so using one for an intro to an English folk song can't be a bad thing to attempt (one of my own attempts, "The Water is Wide," is here); and neither can using one to accompany English dances. Further, due to the polymer technology that IB referred to, it's now one of the least expensive instruments.