I would never suggest writing the phrase "with a lilt" on any piece of music as that is such a subjective term.

Why not? It's no more subjective than terms such as "Allegro", "Andante", "piu mosso", "con moto" and others that are liberally scattered over classical music scores and have to be interpreted by the conductor or ensemble playing the piece. I have also seen "with swing" and "swung quavers" on a music score and "with lilt" is no different.

Of course, to interpret any such terms, you do need to be familiar with the style and a substantial part of that familiarity will come from hearing the playing of other people familiar with the style, either live on on recordings.