I'm not trying to argue about Lloyd. I'm talking about whether singers should try to sing a song in the way somebody sang it 20, 50, 100, 120 years ago (we don't really know much before that) because it's somehow "authenmtic". And I'm trying to say that, if you like it that way, please do. But don't try to make out that it's somehow better than someone who sings the same song a different way.

I'm not sure I agree with Roud, but he's done a lot of research into folk song origins, and, well, the conclusion I took from him is that just about anything went as far as the "source" singers were concerned; and they sang them the way they liked, and the way their audiences expected. Those audiences being pub mates and collectors amongst others, and I suspect they may have sung a bit differently in those two situations.