Strewth, Faye - now look what you started...
OK, for what it's worth, I'm a traditional singer, in that I have songs passed on to me orally by my (traveller) mother and grandmother, which they had from their grandmothers. I've also learned many other songs from oral transmission. I've learned many more songs from books, archives, libraries etc., and I try to avoid learning them from other peoples' recordings, because I want to sound like me, no matter how good Martin Carthy may sound. I also love the bothy ballads, and take option 2 of Steve Gardham's selection, adding the word "necessary" to Scottish pronunciations.
That said, it makes no difference; I don't trade on it, it's just there. I sing, therefore I am...go and do likewise.
And I think Poms had something to do with apples, or having no father, or both.
KYBTTS