It's interesting to read in the writings of Dickens and his contemporaries of 'supper clubs' meeting in the City of London. These were mainly organised by young clerks and others of that ilk. They were held in private rooms in inns and taverns, usually had a chairman and, after supper, each person in the company contributed a song. There would be toasts - and drinking, and tobacco. An exclusively male gathering, and probably a "lower-class" one, and almost certainly a young one (20s to mid-30s).

What we don't know (or at least, I don't know) is what was being sung. We might guess at popular songs and ballads of the day - not music hall, because these clubs flourished some decades before music hall proper and, in fact, were probably one amongst many early ancestors of music hall.

So, the concept of clubs bringing together people for an evening of food, drink and song - has existed for hundreds of years. Dare we suppose that some of what we call 'traditional' songs found its way there?