Classic post, theleveller - I'm feeling a tad green right now, but although we always buy old houses we never live in any of them long enough to do too much, although thanks to Negative Equity we've been here for three years now - and I still haven't opened up the old kitchen chimney for our wee stove. Hell, there are still boxes unpacked off when we moved the time before last!

Anyway, back to this Folk Process, the evidences that Brian presents there aren't in the least bit surprising; what would be surprising if two songs were found in the Oral Tradition that were exactly the same, albeit otherwise completely independent. Now that would be remarkable! But it isn't remarkable at all - it's just as we'd expect it to be.