Granted Joe, law abiding citizens don't make good song material. Also the free spirit that many outlaws personify strikes a chord with those in a mundane existence. Hence the folklore grows.

However it is not revisionist to remind of the facts where facts are available. Here in The UK we had Jimmy Saville as a hero to many hence his downfall was so much harder on the public conscience.   I believe it to be similar where priests have fallen from the grace of their hitherto pedestal.

Robin Hood was a fictitious role model for freedom and getting your own back. The possible real Robin of Loxley would have been an outlaw but whether he would have committed crimes under today's penal code, who knows?

Dick Turpin is remembered for a fictitious horse ride between York and London. Not possible in a ruddy car let alone a horse! Again the folklore is that it didn't matter if the victims were rich, they can afford it eh?

Many songs sung in folk clubs here on the basis of being valid by category say more about the naivety of the singer than anything else. Especially sectarian Irish songs like Kevin Barry that are subjective to say the least. Or Black leg Miner in a room containing those who suffered through such idealist clap trap.

Pedestals aren't cheap. Be careful whose bust gets mounted..