ABCD - I take your point that men of Watt’s class who had Bonapartist sympathies needed to express themselves with great care and circumspection, although whether Watt was one is still unproven. And I admit that the way the political complexion of the times would have affected writers in particular had not occurred to me. (As well as wanting to avoid the attentions of police spies, they obviously depended on the goodwill of publishers and patrons to earn their livings). Partly, that was because the English songs of the early 19th century that I know may speak of hardship but not of political discontent, so if Watt had camouflaged his primary subject, it succeeded with me. And it was partly too that I am woefully ignorant of the depth of Scottish political dissent and its relationship to the French Wars.

It would be easy at this point to get sidetracked into a discussion of dissent on both sides of the border (let alone Ireland!) for the forty years or so following the 1790s. Tempting, but I think it would be wise to avoid that, at least in this thread, mainly because as far as folksong is concerned it would not necessarily have much to do with Bonaparte (ie. the ideals which he generated in the minds of some of the people of Great Britain). In that regard, The Isle of St Helena seems to be a rare example. I can think of others – parallels concerning other foci of political upheaval such as My Bonny Moorhen (another text by a Scottish poet – is that a coincidence?), and I am sure there are many Irish examples which others would be much better qualified to discuss. "Disguised Political Dissent in the Folksong of the British Isles" could make an interesting thread, or indeed thesis. No doubt at least several undergraduates have tried it. Just for fun (or mischief) I throw it out there – are there songs of the early 19th century which speak of political dissent? I don’t mean ephemeral ditties about candidates for local elections, but songs of substance which survived until Sharp and his friends came knocking on doors.

Would you mind clarifying your sentence with “ … get away from the modern assumption ...” which seems to contradict the previous sentence. And I cannot resist carping that NB had only himself to blame for being exiled to a remote rock; unreasoning ambition drove him to leave a comfortable berth in the Med. and get a few more tens of thousands needlessly killed or mutilated. Serves him right! says I