If you have access to back issues of Come For To Sing magazine, there is a very interesting interview with Peter Bellamy talking about Kipling. Some dismissiveness seems to come when some individuals judge old songs with modern attitudes. When introducing a ballad, like The Cruel Brother, I often say something like the actions in the song are not approved of by the singer. Or, if everyone behaved in a rational fashion, there would be no great works of literature. A gross over generalization but I try to not make a song introduction sound like a class lecture.