Many of these songs first appear as broadsides. They were written in the equivalent of Tin Pan Alley, by professional songwriters. They may have been based on original events, either culled from newspapers or from hearsay and gossip. So we can't really rely on them too much as primary sources.

So it really depends on how good was the original broadside writer and how reliable were the sources. Newspapers and broadside sellers were more interested in sensation than in accuracy - especially if they were 'recording' the dying confession of someone who was on the scaffold - in American terms a 'goodnight'.

In my opinion, modern writers are more likely to get it right because they have better sources. Perhaps we should all set too and rewrite all those traditional songs? But if we did they would be a lot less exciting.

Les