The DT is not suppposed to be the last word about anything. There is no last word about anything in this world.

The DT is a great collection of songs, and an enormous amount of information, and the Internet and the libraries of the world and the Mudcat are all there to help people check up on facts and half-facts and legends and rumours.

A useful tool for research. Yes - but that doesn't mean you take it as gospel, any more than any other useful tool of research.

What matters for research isn't that the truth is pinned down in one place, it's that when a story is given, the source of that story is given as well. Compared to most usable collections of songs I've seen, the DT is not at all bad at doing that. But being a tool for research is not by a long chalk what its really all about.