"... The Manchester Rambler might be a folk song in 50 years time....but they ain't there yet"
Nearly 30 years ago I collected:-
    " I'm a tramp ship, a tramp ship on no regular run,
      I go wherever the cargoes they come,
      It may be to Sydney on Sunday
      But they'll change it to Lagos come Monday"
The man I 'collected' it from had never heard of either 'The Manchester Rambler' or Ewan McColl. He'd learnt it on a ship he'd sailed on in the late 50s-early 60s. Is this the 'folk process' at work? Does this now mean that if 'The Manchester Rambler' is not yet a folk song, this dirived varient can be? Discuss.