Well, it was actually Ian Anderson that noted this on Facebook and that's where I found out about it - but it really ought to be mentioned here....

About.com gives a list of 10 Trailblazing Female Musicians at
http://altmusic.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/10-Trailblazing-Female-Musicians.htm

and look whose at number 1!

It says of her:-

Shirley Collins was a 19-year-old singer and folk-music enthusiast when, in London in 1954, she met legendary ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Soon after, she was traveling through the Deep South of America, making field recordings of hillbillies and bluesman. A diligent student, Collins became a repository of folksong, both English and American, and grew into a towering, definitive figure in the folk revival. She mixed old forms with new (1964's jazzy collaboration with Davy Graham, Folk Roots, New Routes) and employed ancient, archaic instruments to critique modern Britain (1969's legendary Anthems in Eden). For Collins, cataloging oral musical traditions was a fiercely political act, putting history back in the hands of the people.

Some of the others aren't bad either, but I'm not sure that they all deserve to be in such select company.