'there's a quality in the language / imagery I find entirely beguiling; and so beguiled I am oddly, if not entirely, convinced that, whatever the actual & or dodgy provenance, here is something that, in modern parlance, kicks ass in the ballad stakes'

I'm guessing you are partial to some of Peter Buchan's more imaginative effusions then? I've seen the word 'parody' used to describe some of his contributions.