Ballad some of which were later set to music by Schubert. Later important examples of the poetic form included Rudyard Kipling's "Barrack-Room Ballads" (1892-6) and Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1897). Victorian poet Christina Rossetti used ballad forms to explore spiritual and moral issues and to discuss the stereotypical treatment and representation of men and women's roles in society. In the 18th century ballad operas developed as a form of English stage entertainment, partly in opposition to the Italian domination of the London operatic scene. It consisted of racy and often satirical spoken (English) dialogue, interspersed with songs that
The Ballad of the Cloak reiterated the evils of Roman Catholicism and asserted the Church's independence from the Episcopalianism practised by King Charles I and many of the nobles who supported him. Ultimately, the Covenanters would be drawn into civil war against the Royalists, and this ballad blames the Covenanters for the eventual execution of Charles I as well as other evils done against Scotland." The Ballad of the Cloak The Ballad of the Cloak, Or the Cloak's Knavery is an English Broadside ballad that dates back, roughly, to the last quarter of the 17th century. It is most often set to the popular tune,