But if I were told (truthfully or otherwise) that one was a fake/counterfeit/imitation, I would value it less, or not at all, even while appreciating the skill of the faker/emulator.(lghter)

It's the emulation aspect I have been thinking of. As an aside there are those who would say the emulator should have been using their skills to do something 'creative', which thought comes after reading a line in the book page linked by Iains "The power of imagination of man is rather limited"

I think the history of the songs and tunes is fascinating but for me it is in the context of 'what the folks sang' (or played) and separate to the side of things Steve Shaw summarised. How much of Steve Shaw's "informal socialising, enjoying the crack/craic, often getting a bit pissed with your mates, singing old songs and changing things a bit because you can't quite remember it all or like it better your way/your dad's way, same with old tunes, doing your own thing with people of similar sentiment" was what Walter Pardon's forebears were doing in the singing room at the Mitre Tavern? If it it was similar and the folk process was alive then isn't it still alive now?