You typify a revival that has wrapped itself in cotton-wool in order to protect itself from any sort of discussion of performance other than sycophantic praise.

Not on this thread though, Jim - that was somewhere else. And I hardly threw a hissyfit, rather speculated how you arrived at the rather absolutist conclusion that anyone could be a 'crap ballad singer' when it really takes all sorts, much less that they were a 'prat' when they pointed this out. And where's all this sycophantic praise you keep harping on about?

Over here on the British mainland, a ballad singer is simply someone whose love of ballads is enough to inspire them to sing them themselves. Unlike the situation in Ireland, there is no government funded elite 100% guaranteed source singers to ensure the purity of The Living Tradition - just a bunch of disparate folkie souls with a love of anachronistic soap opera, be it casual or obsessive. I might not be entirely right in thinking most folkies have a notion of singing, but of the many that do, a good few of them are sure to have a ballad or two up their sleeves. As with the other singing you'll hear in any mainland session or singaround, the approach to the singing of ballads will be determined by the singer rather than some hidden mystery tradition known only to an elite few. As with Source Singers, Revival Singers are free to do them exactly how they like. For sure I might dispute the usual myths (ballad singing is storytelling etc. etc.) and be suspicious of any Emergent Orthodoxy and other School of Correctness, but I respect their right to do it and I'd never call anyone's singing 'crap' much less call them a 'prat' for doing do. That isn't criticism, Jim - we know what it is, and you do yourself a disservice by even thinking such things, much less saying them on open forum.

If your precious tradition needs protecting from 'other voices' than the 100% Official Government Approved ones from the Truckly Howl Ministry of Folk, then I really want nothing to do with it - but, happily, I know that's bullshit. I know that there are no more Traditional Singers; I know the Tradition died the dead years ago and I know that any singer born in the last 70 years is Revival rather than Traditional. Revival isn't keeping anything alive, rather it is singing old songs along the new for the pure Joy of it. Oddly enough, the fossil record tells us that The Tradition wasn't too much different, and that once we get the inevitable pagiarism out of the way (the Carthy and Steeleye wannabes, but even they're more than welcome in my book) there is room for a lot of different approaches. I get this from the Old Singers, by the way; a life-time of listening, singing, exploring and, in two cases, being lucky enough to work alongside the Old Singers and know them personally. But if anyone lays claim to being such a singer now, and demands special consideration on account of their 100% Pure-Blood Authenticity, I'll be suspicious to say the least...

So there's my hissy-fit, Jim. Do what you wilt and encourage others to likewise; do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As in life, then so in ballad singing.