I, too, have been long intrigued by the reference to 'the Beauty of Kashmir' in this song. It seems such an out-of-context reference to 18th century English highway robbery, and as I live in North India and have been to Kashmir 30plus times, I really want to understand the meaning of it. As someone mentioned earlier, the reference to highway brigands and caves in mountains is certainly more Himalayan than Cornish. I always assumed the "beauty'' to be a young Kashmiri Prince (?!) (most Kashmiris are stunning to look at), but then couldn't make it make sense with the rest of the song.
It also occurred to me that back in the 60's and 70's, many well-known musicians, artists and writers stayed in Srinagar's houseboats on Dal Lake as part of the hippy trail and were heavily charmed by its extraordinary beauty and unique culture/language. Does anyone know if Steeleye Span headed that way in those days? I feel there's a definite message 'hidden in plain sight' in this song, and would love to know what it is!
Thanks folks.