"A good number can easily be traced through a mixture of print and manuscript for 3 or 4 centuries. "
We know we've had an oral tradition since the 8 hundreds at least, as you said yourself ("However, many of these songs have a history that goes back well beyond that"
We also know Scots shepherds were singing folk songs in the 1500s and that one song identified was still being sung by source singers in the 20th century
Anybody who believes that an oral tradition with that provenance hasn't produced songmakers needs to get out more often and listen to what those singers said instead of trying to assimilate big words that nobody seems to understand
We both know that appearing in print doesn't mean squat when talking about origins, as blusteringly as some people might suggest it does
"I am going to get ridiculed for multiple posting"
Drop in the ocean for you Pseud
Jim Carroll