The Sandman wrote: Robert are you suggesting Hot Ash phelt is a TRAD SONG? since we are discussing collectors of traditional songs.

It's true that several of the printed sources (MacColl, Peter Kennedy) are a little dubious. But there appear to be five field collections apart from Ewan MacColl's father (Baxter, Hutchison, Maguire, Mathieson, McLaverty). Without having examined them all in detail, it looks clearly traditional to me. Yes, it started out in broadsides, but a great many things do!