For me, it has been a life-long exercise in self-indulgence.
I love the songs and down the years that love has almost reached obsession level.
I remember someone commenting on Sam Larner's singing 'Butter and Cheese and All', "He must have sung it every week (the The Fisherman's Return) for most of his life, but it still sounds as if he's only just discovered it".
Sums my feelings about folk song perfectly.
Jim Carroll