With all due respect to Jim's opinion, to which I normally listen with care I would suggest that you decide whether you want (mostly) to sing English, Scottish, Irish, or American. Or indeed contemporary and ARSS.

If you are going to do long ballads you have to be a consummate story-teller. But if you feel inventive it is possible to prune long ballads. I can get a version of Sir Patrick Spens done in about 5 minutes and at that duration there is an anthemic rock feel to the Nic Jones tune (with which I have taken some liberties).