As I was saying, Lord Lovel, the Jacobite ballad (75E) was nothing spectacular. It was just an insignificant little love ballad, written for a lady with similar sentiments, until the other side got hold of it. It was always more popular as parody or burlesque than ballad therefore running in unofficial circles in a manner that quite trumps Jacobite secrecy.

Sung in open arrogant drunkeness. How did Horace Walpole, rabid anti-Jacobite get his hands on it? Don't you think that Lady Hounsibelle and Lord Lovel (Percy's title) is Horace Walpole's perfected masterpiece sent deliberately to Percy for possible publication? Of course it was. But alas, people like Percy and Childs transmogrified comic tradition into new "ballad" tradition. Ugh!

Rather unfortunately, Percy was ahead of Horace Walpole and used Reverend Parsons as a ballad laundering service. Hey, they were all playing James Bond back then- politically, socially, even religiously. Far as I know they still are. God bless the Brits- and their American cousins. Eh?

But if it's all the same to you, if I have to deal with any gay little parlor songs, I'll take the green bourgeoisie. Thank ye kindly.