Ewan had great regard for the traditional unaccompanied ballad which was being
musically butchered by well-meaning uninformed folkies and that could have contributed to what some might say his arrogance. He and Alan Lomax hated the commercialization of folk music and often reacted negatively when they disapproved of the way it was being mishandled. See Mighty Wind for details. Peggy grew up with hearing the traditional ballads and may have transcribed some for her parents.

The "Great Folk Scare" as Van Ronk called it had both good and bad sides. Some of the revival folkies were good songwriters and musicians and influenced musical tastes in
the pop culture. Interest in Bluegrass, Old Time and Blues came out of this. The bad side is what Ewan and Peggy wanted to counteract.