"MacColl used the term 'Song Carrier' which does for me."
Jim, I don't know whether you have read Pete Wood's "The Elliotts of Birtley" yet but there is a particular passage which deals with Pete Elliott's reaction to MacColl referring to his father (Jack Elliott of Birtley)as a "song carrier".
Not that I personally disapprove of the term as I would say it was a perfect title for someone like Paddy Tunney.