Just been thinking about this topic folk musically, and I've always been confused by something...

To take "On Top of Old Smoky" lyrics as an example:

I lost my true lover for courting so slow

In this context, what does "true lover" mean? That this person is, him/herself "true" (honest, upstanding, trustworthy, etc.) or that this is the person "I" (the speaker of the song) love truly?

"My (his/her) true love" is such a common phrase in old ballads, it can almost be grouped with "Fiddle-do-di-dee" -- "true" being an extra syllable tacked onto "love" to fill out the scansion of the line... But what was the information aboout the subjects of the song/s that contemporary listeners to the would have gotten from the use of that phrase?

Does the above question make any sense?

I think I need some lunch...