"In the hope of rescuing an interesting thread that threatens to descend into the unresolved 'what is & what isn't a folk song' morass"
Yer man asked for Traditional songs Vic - I don't consider that "descending" anywhere - on the contrary - It's refreshing to read someone making such a positive request

Origins are what it says on the tin - change is a sign that the songs have moved around the folk who sang them
One's as important as the other in my opinion
Jim