Ah, Ok, Jim. I sort of assumed that you were saying that you had asked for a definition on this thread. Not referring to ancient history. I have no recollection of that nor of what my response was. If you can point me in the right direction as to where and when this happened I will happily accept that your memory is correct. In the meanwhile, presuming that you want a definition, rather than a description to a newbie, how about...

Folk music is the product of a musical tradition that has been evolved through the process of oral transmission. The factors that shape the tradition are: (i) continuity which links the present with the past; (ii) variation which springs from the creative impulse of the individual or the group; and (iii) selection by the community, which determines the form or forms in which the music survives.
The term can be applied to music that has been evolved from rudimentary beginnings by a community uninfluenced by popular and art music and it can likewise be applied to music which has originated with an individual composer and has subsequently been absorbed into the unwritten living tradition of a community.
The term does not cover composed popular music that has been taken over ready-made by a community and remains unchanged, for it is the re-fashioning and re-creation of the music by the community that gives it its folk character.

:D