Here's another one for discussion. No need for any insults please! Sharp wrote 'Some Conclusions' based on his collecting experiences. He published many anthologies BUT has anyone seen ANY evidence that would suggest that he was a folksong scholar regarding their history and texts? Yes, he knew something about the tunes which could be considered his expertise. His comments in the Journals are largely confined to the music.

Kidson was something of a self-taught music historian and Baring Gould did a lot of research into the history of some songs, but the rest were solely collectors/composers and there is little evidence that they knew anything of the history of the material they were collecting. I would also include Greig and Duncan in this. Annie Gilchrist did a lot of research into the history but she came along later. I'm pretty sure Maud Karpeles was quite knowledgeable but haven't seen a lot of evidence even there.

This is not a criticism of any of them, just observations/queries/opinions.