The claim is that that percentage was created outside the communities - there is no evidence whatever to even begin to back that up
Our knowledge of the oral tradition dates back only to the end of the 19th century
I have no problem with the suggestion that that many songs appeared on broadsides but that doesn't prove that they first appeared there
Steve Gardham has accepted thaat broadside makers were taking songs from the tradition, but there is little sign of that in his claims
We actually recorded a ballad sheet seller who described taking his father's songs to the printer and reciting them over the counter so they could be sold around the markets
Jim