I have been collecting and sharing songs for many years now and, as we all know, many traditional songs extol the virtue of waiting faithfully for one's lover after him being many years away in the wars or at sea. Often when the lover returns there is a broken token which is presented and, in what appears to be the ultimate cruelty, the lover will often say that he saw the holder of the broken token die a cruel gory death on the battlefield or drowned and lost at sea.

Sometimes the returnee will attempt to seduce the bereft woman (always a woman!) in an effort to prove her "faithfulness", even in the face of the news of the death of her man. Of course, it always turns out to be a ploy to discover if the lover left at home has been loyal and constant. And there are very many songs on this theme, about remaining true and faithful to one's lover, and there is no doubt that this is seen as a desirable trait in one's prospective partner.

I know there are some songs about cuckoldry, and this is often seen as something negative. My question is, are there any songs about compersion? This is a relatively new word and it means the feeling of joy when a loved one invests in and takes pleasure from another romantic or sexual relationship. It is often contrasted with and described as the opposite of jealousy. I haven't found any trad songs with this theme, but are there even modern folk songs with this premise? I am guessing that the leitmotif is different from candaulism or cuckoldry, or maybe a derivation of both.

Thoughts from Mudcatters?