"the great Child was crystal clear that in his view the original and great old Ballads had been written by the elite and not the lower ranks. "
I intended not to get involved in this at present but I feel compelled to correct this
"The great Child" said no such thing and, as he had little or no contact with the oral tradition, whatever he said would have totally immaterial anyway
The fact is that nobody knows who composed the ballads and probably never will, ut the probability is that, due to their vernacular make-up, their familiar use of folklore, which didn't become a studyable sciemce until the fist half on the 19th century (much later than the youngest of the ballads were composed), the fact that some motifs used go back as far even as Homer, possibly Ancient Egypt, and their relationship with the art of oral storytelling, it is highly likely that most of them were orally composed by the 'common people' - but, as I said, nobody knows (as they say on QI)
Regarding Child's authority, on previous threads mentioned Child's scholarship, including that on formal poetry, came in for a great deal of kicking by those who are happy to use him as an authority when his opinion coincides with theirs
Nuff said on that for now

"i do not see anybody reading from notes in irish singers clubs ,people have practised their songs, i think jim carroll will confirm this."
Absolutely concur Dick - I also believe the standard of singing and instrumentation is far higher here, especial among the youngsters who are now taking both far more seriously that in the UK
Sorry to interrupt
Jim Carroll