The very fact that many singers thought it necessary to fit different tunes to ballads or write their own is an indication that a lot of existing ones were not altogether inspiring.

Many ballads were collected without tunes anyway; whether this was an indication that they weren't very good or that the collectors weren't skilled in notation is a matter for speculation. Probably both.

Obviously not all Bronson's published tunes are crap but many can be, and have been, bettered.