The words "folk song" is not a construct of "the folk."

The word "folk," the way it was initially used, referred to the rural, peasant class, as distinct from the more urban tradespeople, merchants, and aristocracy.

As far as anyone knows, the first appearance of the word(s) "folksong" in writing was by Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744 – 1803), a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the periods of the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism. He was referring to "volkslieder," the songs of the rural, peasant class.

He suggested that if composers (of "serious" or "classical" music) wished their music to capture the character of a particular country or region, they should listen to the volkslieder of that country or region. Subsequently, many composers did, with the results they desired. Dvorak's music capturing the "flavor" of Czechoslovakia, Moussorgski that of Russia, Rimsky-Korsakov's very Middle-Eastern sounding music in the Sheherazade symphonic suite, based on the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Ralph Vaughan Williams in England, Aaron Copeland in America, many others.

Prior to that time, collectors such as Bishop Thomas Percy, who rescued an old manuscript that a maid was using to light the morning fire with, and used that as the nucleus of his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, didn't, as far as I can tell, use the word(s) "folk song." Nor, as far is I know, did Samuel Pepys regarding his Library of Broadside Ballads, nor Ambrose Phillips' about his Collection of Old Ballads (1723).

Sir Walter Scott, inspired by reading the Percy's Reliques, published some of the ballads he collected in The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1803). The more rigorous scholarship of folklorists would eventually supersede Percy's work, but Percy gave impetus to the whole subject.

The Reliques is also credited, in part, with changing the prevailing art movement of the 18th century, Neo-Classicism, into Romanticism. The neo-classicists based their art on the perceived purity of classical antiquity and took as their models the art of ancient Rome and Greece. The Reliques highlighted the traditions and folklore of England seen as simpler and less artificial. It would inspire the collection of songs and stories in other parts of Europe and beyond, such as those by the Brothers Grimm. As von Herder had suggested (or predicted—or observed), such movements tended to act as the foundation of romantic nationalism.

The Percy Society was founded in 1840, to continue the work of publishing rare ballads, poems and early texts. In the late 1800s, Harvard English professor Francis James Child got into the act and, amazingly enough, managed to put together, mainly by correspondence, his massive and authoritative work, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Cecil J. Sharp, first in England, then in the Southern Appalachians, then, of course, the Lomaxes, and people like Carl Sandburg, and many, many others collecting American songs, some indigenous, but many transplanted from other countries, mostly the British Isles.

I don't think Ugluck and Mongook sitting in their cave back about 27,000 years ago, banging rocks together and grunting in rhythm were thinking "what a wonderful 'folk experience' we're having! Pass me some of that fermented berry juice, I want to awaken my muse!"

No. The word "folk" in relation to this music is a relatively modern—and mostly artificial—construct. This has a lot to do with the constant, excessively long, and frequently devising threads on "what is a folk song."

No, I have to agree with Spaw, here. Conrad is a person of no particular talent or ability ("visionary artist" my arse!!) who has latched onto folk music because he is another one of those who thinks that folk music doesn't require talent and ability. But many singers DO have a measure of talent, or have actually WORKED at honing what skills they do have—or both—have learned lots of songs, and are able to sing them in a manner that engages other people. And often other people are willing to pay money to hear them perform. That really gets up Conrad's nose! He doesn't want to do the work himself, he just wants instant recognition—and is undoubtedly quite willing to accept pay, if anyone were actually willing to pay to listen to him flatulate tunelessly on his penny whistle—and is jealous of those who HAVE put in the time and effort.

They put in the time and effort, not necessarily because they are looking for a way to get rich (God knows!!), but because they love the music. And most would go ahead and perform whether they were paid or not. And often DO!

Yeah. My secret's out. I would perform whether I was paid for it or not. And, indeed, I have performed free, many times. But with one stipulation:   with the exception of agreeing to sing for a charity or a good cause, if someone is making money from the fact that I'm singing somewhere, I insist on getting some of it.

If someone wants to PAY to hear me sing, I'm sure as hell going to take it!!

Don Firth