"Let me by this straight, Jim. You reckon that neither Skipton nor Keighley nor Bradford folk clubs can tell the difference between Joe Heaney and Ed Sheran? Have I got that right?"
No Dave - you told me that some Ed Sheran songs could pass as folk songs

Yes - we do have different views of what constitutes a folk song
I base mine on a more than a century's work by many researchers and collectors, on collections identified under that title, on research that stretches back into the 19th century, on a term, "folk", that was created in 1846 which identified the cultural customs and creations of "ordinary People' as THE FOLK, on a definition that was arrived at by an group of researchers in the genre to try and understand and assess the Music and Voice of the People and on a song revival that came together in the 1950s and lasted for around four decades to sing folk songs, which never seriously challenged or attempted to re-define any of the above until the last few years, when it was seriously on the wane and facing extinction
What do you base yours on ?      

Despite claims to the contrary, the definition I choose to use is not MY DEFINITION but the one that came into being ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE YEARS AGO AND HAS NEVER BEEN REPLACED AS A DESCRIPTION OF THE CREATIVE CULTURE OF THE LOWER CLASSES OF THESE ISLANDS
Of course, there is room for adaptation and flexibility within that description, but if we are going to continue working and communicating with each other on this IN MY OPINION, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CULTURAL PHENOMENON, ANY MAJOR CHANGES HAVE TO BE AGREED ON BY ENOUGH PEOPLE TO MAKE THAT POSSIBLE
Going 'native' and deciding that you are going to have your own personal definition and present your own species of 'folk' to the wider world, can only lead to confusion, loss of understanding and eventually irreparable damage to the 'folk genres' (not just song and music)
I don't want to fall out with people I disagree with - on the contrary
I value the communication and friendships and education my involvement with this bloody superb cultural phenomenon has given me for the best part of my life every bit as much as I value folk Song, lore, and music itself, in many of its forms

If you have an alternative definition to "folk" then tell me what it is, where I can find it and who agrees it
Please - none of you - do not revert to populism and claim "that's what the people want", we all know from current bitter, current experience what that sort of thing leads to
We never managed to win over enough of the "the people" for them to know what folk sing is or care - our music can't survive if it is not understood and cherished by large enough numbers of people

It strikes me that those who want a "singing horse" definition, neither like nor understand folk music - it may suit them personally but it bodes ill for the future
Jim Carroll