Hi,

Obviously there are a large number of political folk songs from ages past: songs in support of/against the Jacobite Rebellion being one popular theme that seems to make it into recordings time and time again.

Whilst listening to Nic Jones' rendition of "The Blind Harper" it struck me as being a very curious song. Here is a song which is (apparently) being sung from a Scots viewpoint about a harper who travels to England and first outwits and is then outwitted by the English King. At the end of the song though, the King turns out to be really quite a pleasant chap.

Now this strikes me as odd because it's fairly unique in my experience of folk songs. Firstly it portrays what is effectively a conflict between the Scots and English but not at all in angry or divisive tones. Second it appears to be a Scots song which finds favour with the English king. Anyone who's listened to a number of Scots folk tunes is going to agree that saying anything nice about the English is a most unlikely theme.

Now it struck me (finally getting to the point) that this song might have one of three origins. Firstly, it might just be a happy old "nursery rhyme" type tale. Second it might be a song written by an English source to convince people that the Scots don't mind the English really. Thirdly that it might be an English song designed to show the king in a good light in Scotland. In either of the last two cases it'd be an early example of self-perpetuating propaganda!

Am I at all on the mark here, or am I just waffling madly? Are there any other songs that fit this category?