“The Peasants’ Revolt had figured in Cockney tradition from at Elizabethan times. It was frequently depicted in the outdoors theatre of Bartholomew Fair, and accounts were also pulished in several editions of inexpensive chap-books (following 1750), when the ancient question was asked again :
When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the Gentlemen?”
Peter Linebaugh’s fantastic book is available in store and online.