The whole idea of a true lovers knot is togetherness in death. It is not to identify the personalities involved as either like a rose or a briar. Persons who can't imagine these plants laughing or having midnight rendezvous will certainly lack the imagination it takes to view a briar in anything other than a negative light.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the lovers as well as other incidentals such as burial sites are inconsequential. Child and others are hardly infallible. In fact I cringed when Child gave such high praise to Lord Thomas and Fair Annett as such a BEAUTIFUL ballad. What? Jealousy over fair skin and a double. Child's point of view is heavily influenced by racism. Why wouldn't the brown girl be happy in her own skin?