by a more recent scholar, the ballad has been suggested as a possible source to "the tale of the three questions" in john gower (d. 1408)'s "confessio amantis". here the king is guilty of envy, asks three difficult questions, and a distant relative of inferior standing comes to the rescue. the king sets a similar time limit as in the ballad. the riddles differ, but has been suggested that the ballad was re-written in the sixteenth or seventeenth century with fresh new riddles, and so generate extra sales.