Every possibility Guest - in fact, given the the pressure under which the broadside hacks were forced to work in order to make a living, it's highly likely
Far quicker and easier to adapt something already in existence than burn the midnight paraffin lamps thinking up new songs to sell
The audiences weren't necessarily 'genteel' they just had to be adapted for the city dwellers
I agree Dave - I've always believed some of our best historians are local ones not working to please either publisher or general publishers
In this case, we are talking about opinions and logic - you can only talk historians if you have solid facts to deal with, otherwise you are left with snippets and common sense
The only historian, L. van Sittert I can find is an expert of prickly Pears in South Africa - don't know many songs about them
Jim