When 34-year-old Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex and ill-fated leader of a failed rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I, laid his head on the executioner’s block in 1601, the prospect of inspiring a hit ballad was likely the furthest thing from his mind. Yet his grisly demise sparked one of the most enduring songs of the 17th century. Titled “A lamentable Dittie composed upon the death of Robert Lord Devereux late Earle of Essex, who was beheaded in the Tower of London, upon Ashwednesday in the morning,” the ballad…
