Didn't quite finish Howard
I have always accepted that Broadsides played a large part in the passage of our songs, and have been happy to accept that some of those songs originated from them
I also agree that their influence increased in the latter half of the 19th century - it has always been an accepted fact that the advance of technology and literacy played a major part of the shift when our singers became listeners rather than performers of our songs - passive observers rather than active creators
To judge the dying embers of our tradition with it at its most active is not unlike judging the performance of a racehorse after it has been turned out to stud.
I think I've already said that more than once, butt it's worth repeating in my opinion
Jim