In spite of his marital difficulties, Bryan speaks a lot of sense at 09 Jan 18 - 09:31 AM. The reluctance to join in what has developed in part into an insult-strewn kicking match has clearly put off people who are well-qualified to participate. I have received an email and a Facebook message from two men asking me to make points on their behalf. Well, my answers to both (they will be reading this) was that I didn't want to fire the bullets that other people make. However, it does point out that things have reached a sorry state on a subject that requires participators to think what they are saying and back it up with evidence.

My silly verse above did have a serious point behind and it leads me to ask a polite question which hopefully will bring forward an answer that is without rancour -
Does the person who stated Urban people, not particularly skilled as poets and living outside of the subjects of our folk songs - all of which makes them highly unlikely as possible authors have any research evidence or factual reinforcement for the statement that town and city dwellers bring little skill to their verses? Otherwise it does seem to be a bold, bald and unsupported statement, bearing in mind that we know very little of the lives and living locations of the hundreds (thousands?) of people who contributed to the composition and/or adaptation of broadside ballads/chapbooks etc.