Sorry, MtheGM, but national styles in irony must vary.

I meant to imply that *of course* Lloyd must have read Whitman, and that the phrase may well have stuck in his mind.

Had I meant to patronize, I'd have written instead "And what are the chances Lloyd had ever read Whitman?"

Nobody who's read "Folk Song in England" could imagine the man wasn't widely read, knowledgable, insightful, and all the rest.