In 1810, the publishing firm of Thomson in Edinburgh offered Beethoven a deal where he would arrange English, Irish, Welsh and Scottish folk songs for a nice fat fee. Thomson wanted these songs for the home market where marriageable daughters would play piano and be accompanied by marriageable men who played the violin or cello. Both sexes could sing as solo or duet. As a result, Thomson removed the bawdier lines from the texts and sent Beethoven music whose harmonies had been simplified. Because of this, Beethoven’s arrangements lack the sophisticated harmonies one would normally hear in his music.
Although all the folk songs are available on You Tube, only a few have the lyrics as subtitles. Even with English lyrics, it’s hard to pick out the words unless you have printed lyrics available.