If a novelist were to come up with the idea of a prince marrying a commoner of very common stock, and then the commoner taking the prince of some high-born house down some low road and away from all he knew, it wouldn't be...utterly far-fetched. There is, after all, an old Irish folk ballad called "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" that I recall singing in elementary school, about some high-born lady being paid a visit by "the raggle taggle gypsy" (or gypsies), who, according to the lyrics, pulls off her silk-trimmed dress, puts on leather-o, and runs off with the gypsy for reasons unknown, as her heartbroken lord of the manor tries to stop her and then rides east and west and more to seek her out and find out why she'd cast aside her privileged life of luxury for the hideous rigors of the impoverished gypsy camp.  The lord of the manor eventually finds the woman and asks why she would do this, only to be...(Read Full Post)