"Robin of Bagshot, _alias_ Gorgon, _alias_ Bluff Bob, _alias_ Carbuncle, _alias_ Bob Booty," was very obviously intended for Walpole and his "dear charmers" for his wife and Molly Skerrett.

It may well be believed that the song, "How happy could I be with either" brought down the house; and the highwayman must have evoked a hearty laugh with-- And the statesman, because he's so great, Thinks his trade as honest as mine.
Certainly the songs had much to do in the matter of pleasing the audience.

As a literary work, "The Beggar's Opera" has no great claims, but there is a spontaneous humour about it that has charm.

But it was the _milieu_ that, acting on the hint thrown out years before by Swift, Gay chose that appealed to the public taste.

Highwaymen and women of the town are not romantic figures, but Gay made the highwaymen handsome and lively, and the women of the town beautiful and attractive, and over them all he cast a glamour of romance and sentimentalism.