"During past centuries, when most "traditional" folk songs first appeared, today's class structure simply didn't exist. Yes, sure, there were class distinctions then as there are now, but society as a whole was quite different.

Prior to the mid 19th century, the "average" person, or "most people," lived in small agricultural communities. There was not such thing as a proletariat, or true "working class," in those days. A peasant is not exactly the same thing as an industrial worker ~ they're exploited by the ruling minority in entirely different manners"

It was certainly different - divisions were even more brutal and extreme, especially after the Enclosure Acts when the number of capital crimes was extended to even the most minor offence. As far back as 1381 the Peasants' Revolt sought to abolish serfdom - and almost, but not quite, succeeded. Similarly, the Civil War and the Commonwealth temporarily abolished that bastion of the class system, the monarchy.

To see how popular song and theatre reflected the opinions and conditions of the 'voiceless' and uneducated majority in the 17th and 18th century, read Christopher Hill's 'Liberty Against the Law'.

There's little doubt that the Edwardian folk song collectors were from the middle classes and were seeking to protect the songs from the 'mis-use' by the very people they were collecting from. In 1907, Sharp declared 'In less than a decade, English folk singing will be extinct. I have learned that it is, as a rule, only a waste of time to call upon singers under the age of sixty. Their songs are nearly all modern: if, by chance, they happen to sing an old one, it is so infected with modern spirit that it is hardly worth the gathering.' Sharp's definition of 'the folk' is 'those whose mental development has been due not to any formal system of training or education, but solely due to environment, communal association, and direct contact with the ups and downs of life.' So, you could say, class has been an obsession amongst folk afficionados for quite some time.