True indeed, Malcolm. A horse is never just a horse, it's always a "milk-white steed" or a "dapple grey." A woman's hand is never just a hand, it's usually a "lily-white hand." There are stock words and phrases that crop up in ballads all the time. People can drive themselves nuts trying to make perfect sense out of ballad conventions. Sometimes it just isn't there.

But sometimes ballad conventions do make perfect sense if you know what's going on. One that throws a lot of people is "my false true-love." Not the contradiction it seems to be. My "true-love" is the woman I truly love. If she's false to me, then she is "my false true-love."

Don Firth