Has anybody considered that the whole thing might be a rather humorous parody? The Tudors were big on that sort of thing as witness Utopia by Thomas More. Also there is a well known one in Irish called "Eoghan Coir" written in the 18th century by a Richard Barrett. It praises the "generosity" of a well know land-lord of the times when everyone knew that he (to use a Dickensian phrase) outscrooged Scrooge. Irish mudcatters will recognise the poem.