Very interesting thread. Startled that paperback reference books like the Opies are not on the shelf of everyone who chats in Mudcat. I often think of the remark about being afraid to walk out of their door for fear of someone else pressing the Black Death notion on them. Mind you, there are other hidden Black Death references in our songs - Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair, in which 'hair' was formerly 'face' - the ballad 'What did I do to be so black ond blue?' - and of course Orchy Chorni!