www.contemplator.com says (among other things) of Greensleeves:--

A reading of the lyrics shows it is not a sweet, innocuous love song, but a plea from a 16th century gentleman to his bored mistress. .

That's what I've always thought. Someone once told me that green sleeves were the badge of a court "courtesan," but I have serious doubts about the truth of that.

Don Firth