Dick, Steve Roud has written a very good summary of the arguments regarding the different priorities of 'Editors and Performers' in his introduction to 'The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs'. Some of the people you describe with your characteristic good grace as 'wankers' are scholars first and singers second, or not at all. Hardly surprising that those people should want to examine the scholarship of a man once considered the leader in the field.

I'm a singer, not a scholar, but as a singer of old songs I'm really interested in where the songs came from, who sang them, why they sang them, and so on. My pursuit of the roots of the 'Bertsongs' is more like unravelling a detective mystery than trying to discredit anyone. I never met Bert, but every single person I've talked to that knew him spoke in glowing terms of his inspiration, intelligence and humour. Dave Arthur's biography gives a great account of his achievements, without skating over the controversial points.