Mike,

To me a song or ballad becomes part of the tradition or traditional when it is transmitted from one source to another and in that process is changed.

I don't think of time (as in a generation) as being the impostant aspect but the more a song or ballad is transmitted the more change.

As an example, if we passed the lyrics of a song around a table of people in circle a tradition of that song would exsist without much passage of time.

What do you think?

-Richie