"Here's one strong probability"
Why is it probable Steve ?
I've never seen any evidence that the songs they sang were anything other Bert and Ewan than they described them
Of course, as they're dead, we'll never know
Neither were specific about where there songs came from - they were more involved in passing them on than placing them under microscopes
Bert talked about learning songs from fellow sea voyagers and sheep-men - he actually named a few, I can see no reason to disbelieve them
I know from conversations with historians, Ruth and Eddie Frow, that Ewan's boyhood home was one of songs - his father "had a lot of strange old songs", and Scots lodgers and immediate neighbours brought songs in from the north, including the Highlands

It seems to me that much of today's scholarship is based on tearing down the work of the past, including the pioneers
I don't believe we'll ever come to terms or begin to understand our folk traditions using this methodology
Jim Carroll