ABSTRACT
Cultural climate is crucial. It is a metaphor for the common beliefs and shared values that flourish and have an impact on life at appropriate times. But as times change, so do value systems. Shared ideologies and belief systems are multifarious, in any case, and folk music revivalism was but one activity among many. But, as far as the history of the British folk revival is concerned, an upgrading of its significance has dominated historical narratives concerning its existence. The folk revivalists' presumptions and presuppositions flowed from a similar source. The historical absolutism of Cecil Sharp's life's work became one of collecting and disseminating English folk dance and song, collecting not only in this country, but also in the Southern Appalachians in the USA. Sharp was insubstantial while it claimed an over-arching authenticity for one type of music which could only be validated by an inoculation, that is using another – popular – as an anti-Christ.
