I think knight could in some contexts just be a young man (its original meaning). I don't think there is anything in this version, for example, to indicate that he is of the gentry. It certainly has some similarities to Nic's version (Some came down in red velvet, and some came down in Pale)

Musgrove c1690

The whole song might have been better received in many places if the Lord was made out to be the villain, and the commoner the hero.