This Democritus article does not represent how the PUBLIC looked at Ballad-Singers but how they were viewed by representatives of the elite. Governments sought to suppress them - across Europe - because they were not easily controlled, and as they attempted to control all wanderers and still do. Well-off ladies and gentlemen were offended by their bawdry and semi-philanthropists like Democritus sought to protect the 'uneducated' from being led astray by the examples of behaviour offered in ballads but the PEOPLE loved them.