Editing Cecil Sharp (section)

===Sharp's theories===
After his struggle with the Board of Education, Sharp published ''English Folk Song: Some Conclusions'',<ref name="EFSSC"/> in which he pursued his ideas about folk songs in schools. His main aim was to expound a theory for the development of folk song, based on Darwinian evolution and oral transmission - the passage of songs down the generations by word of mouth. Sharp put forward three principles: ''Continuity'' – individual songs had survived recognisably over centuries; ''Variation'' – songs existed in multiple versions as singers altered them; and ''Selection'' – a community would choose the most pleasing version.<ref name="Roud"/> This implied that songs had no individual composer, since they had evolved to their present form "as the pebble on the sea shore is rounded and polished by the action of the waves".<ref name="EFSSC"/> However, some in the folk song movement, such as Kidson, were sceptical of this theory.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Francmanis |first=John |date=2001 |title=The Roving Artist: Frank Kidson, Pioneer Song Collector |journal=Folk Music Journal |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=41–66}}</ref>

Sharp argued that folk songs expressed Englishness, and it was vital that they should be taught in schools to inculcate a sense of national identity. He also suggested that their melodies should form the basis of a new English movement in art music, in competition with the musical hegemony of Germany, a belief shared by Vaughan Williams and other composers.