Besides the copy in the Percy Manuscript there are two broadside versions (B, C). All three are of the seventeenth century, and the ballad need not be put much beyond that date. Modernized editions, differing much, were issued in the century following, perhaps earlier, some of which have a Second Part, narrating the happy married life of Tom Potts, Lord Arundel, and Fair Rosamond. Unequal matches are common enough in ballads and romances, and very naturally, since they are an easy expedient for exciting interest, at least with those who belong to the humbler party. We have other balladexamples of disparagement on the female side in 'Richie Story' (No. 232) and 'The Kitchie Boy' (No. 252).
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