"communities of interest"
Communities - or more accurately, groups of common interest have always existed - music halls, Vauxhall Gardens, Gilbert and Sullivan Societies, operatic groups - none of these have had anything to do with traditional music as it has been recorded, archived and documented and performed throught the existence of the present revival.
Yours is not a definition, but an abandoning of any attempt to define what apparently we can expect if we turn up at your club.
Hypothetical case - two clubs; one that exists on Elvis etc. tribute acts, the other where you are body searched for instruments and not permitted to sing anthing later than the end of the 19th century; both describe themselves as ;folk clubs' - are they both 'traditional' - they certainly fit your description as described above? How do they differ from the local light opera society - or don't they? What can we expect as potential punters turning up at your club - or have we no say in what we spend our time and money seeking out?
Your 'communities of interest' don't even have anything in common with each other; they can range from Wagner Societies to Daniel O'Donnell fan clubs - what do you offer any potential audience?
The communities on which the definition of our traditional songs have been, and continues to be based on are groups of people who work, pray, play..... exist together. The songs reflect those experiences held in common. In what way does your (non) definition relate to this? Is there any consensus for your re-definition or have you gone UDI?
Dictionary definition
"Tra-di-tion (trs-dish'n) n. 1. The passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication. 2. a. A mode of thought or behaviour followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a cultural custom or usage, b. A set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present, c. A set of such customs followed in a particular art. 3. A body of unwritten religious precepts. 4. Any time-honoured practice or a set of such practices. 5. Law. The transfer of property to another. [Middle English tradition, a handing down, a surrender, from Old French, from Latin traditio (stem tradition-), from trddere, to hand over: trans-, over + dare, to give.]"
Which part of this does your 'definition represent.
Mike
Read the thread (couple of postings so far) with interest - no argument whatever that sporting songs are being written - there was a collection of the published here in Clare 'Ballads of the Banner', not so long ago.
Whether they are taken up and become traditional remains to be seen; but even if they do, that is a little different to the unaltered repetition of a 1940s Rogers and Hammerstein song on the terraces every week. In your opinion, are Land of Hope and Glory, Viva Espaná and The Birdie Song traditional - if not, why not?
Jim Carroll