I like the same verse at the end with one small change, as in The Highwayman where first he "came riding" (and the story is in past tense) then in the repeat he "comes riding" (and suddenly it's a ghost story). It was a common way of signaling the end of a ballad, coming around to the beginning, but ...

Good question...

why was that? The familiarity would tell people the song was about to end so they could beat feet for the privy, or something? Sovereigns had to be told because with inbreeding they couldn't tell?