Malcolm rightly points out the complexity of the concept of song "ownership" within traditional communities and families, and mentioned the Stewart family as an example. I was lucky enough to hear Sheila Stewart at the National Festival earlier this year when she talked about the culture within which she acquired her songs and stories.

She learned most of her songs in her youth from her mother's brother, Donald MacGregor, who in turn had inherited them from his father Dan MacGregor. Uncle Donald was a strict teacher to the young Sheila, making her sing the old ballads over and over again, until she could sing them to his satisfaction (and when she could do this he would give her a few shillings - which made it worth her while!) However he wouldn't "give" her a song until he knew that she could sing it with coigneach, or "from the heart". One ballad, in particular, he witheld from her for a long time (I think she said it was one of the more bloodthirsty ballads - maybe Twa Brothers) until he felt she was old enough to understand the emotion in it.

So a song had to be earned, as well as learned.

There were also rivalries within the family, not least between Sheila and her mother, Belle, over the ownership of individual songs, and it was not until late in her life that Belle allowed Sheila to sing certain songs such as Queen amang the Heather.