minstrel: "Traditional" songs?

[Tadhg O Cuileannain]

Interesting question--
I'd say, first it means we don't know who wrote it (this is a little tricky--a lot of people have assumed "Happy Birthday" was traditional, only to find themselves being sued by the copyright owners, who still have a few years to go, thanks to the recent obnoxious extension law.)
Peter Schicklele gave a definition of folk song (essentially the same thing, but, as someone noted, no longer the preferred term) as "a song for which there is no definitive version."  I like that.  Of course, as someone else noted, there are those who will change a few words or notes and use that as a pretext to steal the song from the people--I advocate judicious civil disobedience to subvert the media industry's campaign to abolish the very idea of the public domain and establish copyright in perpetuity and make everything pay-per-view.  But I'll stop before this becomes a full-fledged political rant...
Tadhg
 gvantass at interaccess.com wrote:Probably an odd question, but at what point does a song become "traditional"?

For example, "Bonny POrtmore" is listed as traditional, but what does "traditional" mean?

Thoughts to ponder...
Conchobar

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