Not only in folk songs! Actually, I think it's what's called a "device" -- similarly, what are the odds of meeting a significant person every time you go rambling through the woods on a May morning? Of course, a different sort of device might have prevented the problem you mentioned, Desdemona....

There's also a version of Rambleaway that John Roberts and Tony Barrand did on their first album, "Spencer the Rover is Alive and Well and Living in Ithaca" -- when I have the time I'll post those lyrics, if nobody beats me to it.

Aloha,
Mark