Hi, Susan,
I hope I didn't sound too dismissive.

Like you I enjoy presenting opinions based on a lifetime of research.

Jim's statement which you quote is fair comment. Of course we can never be fully certain that any work of art is original unless we have just produced it. However every work of art must have had a point of origin and it is reasonable in my mind to suppose that a ballad appearing for the first time with no prior indications of its existence is at least likely to be of that period. Certainly the opposite can't be proved.

I don't remember suggesting that 75E is 'inauthentic'. 'Exquisite' is to my mind way over the top. Anyone else following Susan here?

As for intuitive research, absolutely! But once you've had the intuition you've got to back it up with facts if you want any credibility.

I'm pretty certain that if I heard Nora Cleary sing this ballad I would be enraptured, but that would not convince me that this was some archaic throwback.