With all due respect, Don, you NOW seem completely "ignorant" of the "Chords in Folk?" thread.
"WAV, there is as much evidence, if not more, of chords being played than of any actual folk use of the recorder.
Cast your mind back to that pub you are so fond of picturing. The one by the river with the weeping willow and swans which glide majestically upon the silvery waters. Take your eyes off of that clog dancer for a moment, and put down your tankard of much-loved ale, I would like to draw your attention an object standing in the corner. Yes, a piano. Has nobody ever gathered round it to sing trad songs? CHords feature heavily in the use of the instrument.
So, if it was alright for them to gather round the piano in the pub and play chords, then why can't Dick Miles play chords on his concertinas?" (Volgadon)...clogs, tankards...music to my ears!...I play just the tune/top-line melody, as an accompaniment, on keyboards set to "piano" or after pleading "to play a pub's proper piano" (see myspace; "The Water is Wide" is done this way).
"And which metre would that be? Iambic pentameter, trochee, catalectic, dactylic hexameter, elegaic distich, alliterative verse, accentual, accentual-syllabic, common meter, iambic, tetrameter,alexandrine, hendecasyllable, the list goes on and on..... There are dozens, if not hundreds of ways for a poem to work, WAV. There is no 'right' way, there is no 'wrong' way, it all depends on the poet, his skill and what he set out to do. An important part of any art form is knowing HOW TO BREAK THE RULES AND WHEN." (Volgadon)...but, for centuries, NOT free verse - was it Ezra Pound who first said to hell with it, regarding traditional metre and/or rhyme? Either way, I like the challenge and effect of saying things WITHIN those limits - that's poetry.

"Anyone with half a wit can come up with a limerick, or a collection of quatrains, but something like a sonnet, esoecially one that works, takes a bit more skill." (Don)...

Poem 146 of 230: HORSES FOR COURSES?

To some, in income-anticipation,
    Horse-balking at gates is a small debase;
To me, it seems a memory/fear case
    Over the coming whip-castigation.
To some, the winning jockey's elation
    Is the highlight of an ended horserace;
To me, the horse's bulged veins and scared face
    Undermine the winners' celebration.
I can't condone a punter's desire
    To gamble rather than earn a living,
    But can acknowledge a jockey's courage;
I can't see and think as a raced sire,
    Nor feel the scrapes hedges are giving,
    But find horses choiceless in their bondage.

From walkaboutsverse.741.com

Finally, from that "Chords in Folk" thread, and as admitted on it, I did change my words here to "English folk-music, for centuries, has entertained people, with telling and/or dancing, via, MOSTLY, the repetition of tunes…"