It's when you start denying the folk process that you deny the creativity of the song-carriers - most of those hapless yokels couldn't never rise to the elite of "master composers", after all.

The songs tell a different story, Pip - likewise all the other trades mastered by your hapless yokels. The folk process is a fantasy that stands in stark contradiction to the dynamic creative tradition these songs stand testament to. No-one mentioned an elite, just naturally gifted working-class men and women fully conversant with their given idiom, but masters nonetheless.   

The idea of the folk process is an open, democratic vision, celebrating a near-universal creative participation in the making and remaking of music.

We agree it's just an idea then. There's a breath of fresh air.