"The claim is that most of the collected songs were originally made for broadsides or started in the theatre etc and went from there to broadsides and from those to the folk. No-one has suggested that this applies to all the songs."
THe claim is between 94 and 100 per cent - either casts doubt than any originated with 'the people' that they have been attributed to for the last century or so
"It has also been pointed out that songs made by ordinary people may have never got widely disseminated so never got collected."
We don't know how many were disseminated - we have to either base our assumptions on those collected fro a tradition in a poor state of health or, more logically, go to English speaking traditions that were healthier - the Scots, the Irish and most of all the non-literate Travellers
We also need to examine the contents of the songs to see if there is anything in them to suggest their origins - I have spent half a lifetime doing just that and also interviewing singers from either living or only recently deceased traditions.
"Liking " has nothing to do with this, listening has a great deal.
This is the level we should be discussing this - not slinging personal insults.
I would suggest that most if not all our folk songs are based on experiences and emotions that still apply to us all - that's what makes them important
You can't do that from a book that admits it deals with songs only "in passing"
Jim Carroll