"Am I the only one here who's going to commend Sue on her sane and measured contribution to the discussion?"
And the arbitrary re-definition of folk song by a single academic....?
And the dismissal and denigration of some of our greatest researchers....?
And the refusal ro respond to a single significant point of argument...?
I most certainly hope you are Jerome
If I have anything to do with it, I hope this subject will run and run until the issues raised in the book are thrashed out honestly and in detail, if not here, than elsewhere
I have invested far too much time, thought and energy in the subject of the decades I have been involved in it to walk away from being told I am a dewy-eyed romantic
The future of our understanding of folk song rests on a genuine sharing of knowledge and experience, not the back-biting nastiness (down to the level of the use of typos) that has taken place here.
Incidentally, I responded to Dick's question on 'Sunday Well' by using Donal Maguire's sleeve notes of his album of that name
Maguire is a very talented revival singer who is heavily involved in researching the life of Land League activist, Michael Davitt, using the songs of the time
Maguire's work is typical of the information gathering that is invaluable of our understanding of folk songs      
The Folk Song revival is peppered with such examples, in sleeve notes, in researched articles for magazines and journals.... all there for the researching
Jim Carroll