I mean, has anyone LISTENED to the words? Jimmy Grove is pining for Barbara Allen, so he gets on his death-bed and, dying, begs her if she will grant him just one kiss. The virgin Barbara declines his wish with so many words, the gist of which is: "Drop dead," seems surprised when he does and promptly expires.

I quote from the Veteran booklet, The Gower Nightingale (VT145CD): "Two centuries on again, the American scholar, B. H. Bronson, wrote: "This little song of a spineless lover who gives up the ghost without a struggle, and his spirited beloved who repents too late, has paradoxically shown a stronger will to live than perhaps any other ballad in the canon. It is still universally known."