Leeneia - Unfortunately I don't now much about older drums used with folk music.
I know of old military drums (rope tensioned, not so high the ones used by the 3rd US Infantry = The Old Guard picture here) and the small drum used in combination with the one hand treble recorder by one person. Here the recorder was played with the left hand only and the drum, hanging from the left arm by a string, was beaten with the right hand. This kind of playing was used by wandering musicians in the late middle ages.
As I wrote before: Any good drum or bongo with a fine sound may be used to accentuate the beat; a rope stringed wooden drum about knee high will do best to look authentic.
About the inventor of the Schaumtorte: This joke about my name isn't so far fetched: Schaum = foam is an old nickname for the cook. This fits well to my ancestors - they have been landlords and innkeepers of the "Shield and Swan" in the little village my family comes from for centuries.

And now sing and dance
Wilfried