Who wrote Greensleeves? Henry VIII? "Yes, he did." "No, he didn't!" "Yes, he did." "No, he didn't!" "Did!" "Didn't!" "Did!" "Didn't!" (sigh).

People have been fruitlessly applying the whip to this equestrian cadaver for quite a long time now, and as they say, the beat goes on. A discussion on this subject on, oddly enough, a website which seems to be dedicated to the works of Jane Austin, contains an exchange too long to cut-and-paste here, but you might check it out to see an example of previous discussions, neither more nor less authoritative than everything that has gone before and has come after.

The only accurate answer, pending either Divine Revelation or the discovery of relevant documentation, is "Nobody knows for sure."

Don Firth