The well-known Irish poet and music collector P. J. McCall (1861-1919) wrote a new song called "The Unfortunate Rake" set specifically to the air given in Levey's "Dance Music Of Ireland," Vol. II. It appeared in McCall's "Pulse of the Bards" in 1904. It has no similarity to the street ballad.

Charles J. Kickham (1828-1882), who wrote the well-known "Patrick Sheehan," also composed words to the air "The Unfortunate Rake."No "rake," however, unfortunate or otherwise, appears in Kickham's song "Rose of Knockmany," in The Irish Monthly in 1888.

"An Seoinin," in Sentinel Songs (1915), by "Brian na Banban" (Brian O'Higgins, 1882-1963) was also written to the air.

Far earlier was "The Wandering Harper" (no relation to "The Bard of Armagh") in "The Hibernian Cabinet: A Selection of all the Most Popular Irish Songs that Have Lately Been Written" (London, 1817).

An undated "ballad," "The Unfortunate Rake," is listed in "A Catalogue of the Bradshaw Collection of Irish Books in the University Library Cambridge" (1916). However, there's another one titled "Jenny Gordon, or The Unfortunate Rake" in the same collection; they may even be the same song.

The Unfortunate Rake" is mentioned specifically as "a song" (along with "The Cruiskeen Lawn," "The night before Larry was stretch'd," and others) in J. Morphy, "Ned Fenton's Portfolio" (Quebec, 1863). No text is given.