No smoke here in the first place so far as I can see. The metaphors in 'Sprig of Thyme' appear to be sexual, not political. I'm not quite sure what the rest of your post means, unless you're saying that your 'gut feeling', for which you seem to have no evidence, is more important than the (provisional) conclusions arrived at by people who have actually looked into the matter.

It does seem that people who have a problem with scholarship often want to believe quite odd things, and resent the fact that the evidence doesn't support them. Usually the problem lies with the theory. Still, I'm sure that you aren't one of those people. Many of us have experience of aural tradition, of course; though I'm not sure what it has to do with this discussion.

Oddly enough (I had quite forgotten about it), most of the information at folkinfo (link above) was provided by me; and it shows that, 5 years ago, I too accepted Chappell's comments pretty much as they stood; having not looked into either song in any depth at that point. We move on as we learn more, though; and my comments here should be taken as superceding my earlier ones at folkinfo.

What confirmed it for me was information from Steve Gardham (my co-editor on the Marrow Bones revision) on the early broadside antecedents of the songs. He is more inclined to accept the attribution to Mrs Fleetwood Habergham than I am; the dates fit, but I'm wary of anecdotal evidence.