There is the music of people like Stan Rogers and Tom Lewis which people will sing, even knowing or not knowing who wrote them. Totally enjoyable, but they are such that they feel timeless. The Last Shanty seems like it's been around forever, yet is probably only about 10 years. Other singer/songwriters like Dave Stone and Vince Morash from the Halifax area write other songs of the sort which are easy to remember and sing. The songs we NOW sing as traditional folk were written by someone at some point in time. To gain acceptance by the world at large, they have to be heard first, and upon those first exposure to an audience will define whether is is traditional or not.

Every area has their own singer/song-writers who have a feel for this kind of music, and will write in that vein. They're not looking to "cash-in" on the traditional music market. If they were looking to make money, they probably wouldn't be writing in this form. However, they LOVE this music, and it permeates the   music they write and perrform.

Someone in another similar thread said they were disappointed in hearing these original songs touted as folk. Most of them are singing totally from the heart. For instance, a local performer, Bill Shaw, wrote a song called The Planters. It takes a little known portion of Nova Scotia history, from the Evangeline period, and imbues it with his personal feelings. His family came to Nova Scotia as one of those Planters. Vince Morash has written a song about the fishing industry, Fishing Where I'm Not Supposed to Be which is about a cousin of his who got hit hard by the cuts in the fishing industry. His song Roger and Lila addresses the concern of all people in the fishing industry on the subject of what happens when they get old! These songs may be NEW, less than 10 years, but they are well thought of but audiences, and other song-writers.

So, original songs may be traditional quite easily, and be part of the tradition as well. It depends   on the person who performs it and the one who hears is.