Kent, there is an argument that much of the oppostion the the Jacobean kings stemmed from the fact that those kings were seeking to impose a change on the British - a change from the English convention that the King ruled to some extent by the imprimatur of the nobles (as illustrated by Magna Carta) towards a new idea that the Jacobeans had learned from central Europe, namely the divine right of kings to govern, make laws, and impose taxes by proclamation. If so then the opponents of James and Charles were not seeking change but seeking to resist change.

And as to the Wild Boar (or Avram Bailey, as I know it), I thought the third "trophy" was a "gay lady", not a "Gaily-dee". And Ithought he was a "noble" not a "jobal" hunter. What are "Gaily-Dee" and "Jobal"?

Oh, and I thought the "Grey Cock" was Burns, and the chorus added later.

I reilise this is thread drift, and the central thesis remains interesting, not least for the fact that pretty well all of the studies seem to be American, whereas one might have expected some British study of the supernatural in British folk song. I suppose that illustrates the almost total lack of British respect for British tradition. Ho hum.