Hi Dick,
Can you show me where anyone has said the sole motive was for the sake of money? I'm certain there were other motives, but they DID get paid, usually a shilling by about 1800, which was quite a lot of money. Seances, hmmm, for fun maybe!

If you want to know about 19th century ballad writers try the works of Henry Mayhew such as 'London Labour and London Poor', or his 'Characters'. He didn't just write about the ballad writers, he actually wrote some of the ballads. You might also try Hindley's books on Catnach and the ballad writers mentioned in there, and more recently the books of James Hepburn who dedicated one of his books to John Morgan, one of the most prolific ballad writers. That okay for you, Dick?