ABSTRACT
The last few years have seen an acceleration in the number of new books concerned with the discovery (or rediscovery) of English folk song and culture, in a context where a somewhat superficial ‘debate’ on the nature of English and/or British identity has been initiated by politicians and media commentators. Such authors as Rob Young (2010), Colin Irwin (2005) and Richard Lewis (2005) have generally sought Englishness in the celebration of a rural idyll or ‘internal exodus into the green’ (Young 2010, 45), something that would be anathema to Ewan MacColl’s idea of national or class identity. Nevertheless, it is noticeable how each author finds it necessary to acknowledge the contribution of MacColl and Peggy Seeger to the process or issues they are concerned with.
