The part of the name "Westmoreland" refers to the John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time.

In the 19th century most of the patients were prostitutes, a consequence of the large military presence in the city - Dublin having the "largest garrison of the British army at home or in the colonies" (Under-Secretary Thomas Larcom).

[13][14] The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland holds a comprehensive collection of minutes, patient registers, reports and accounts of the Hospital from its foundation up to the end of the 19th century.

[11] Notable physicians included: A number of broadside ballads were printed in Britain and Ireland in the 19th century referring to a Lock Hospital or a similar institution, and the downfall of a young man or soldier (and later, woman).

According to Bishop and Roud (2014), the earliest-known variant, a late eighteenth-century/early nineteenth-century broadside in the Madden Collection, is called "The Buck's Elegy".

In 1911, Phillips Barry, who had studied folklore at Harvard, published an article claiming that the origins of "The Unfortunate Lad" were to be found in the fragment called "My Jewel, My Joy".

In America, the song has been adapted to the cattle range (The Cowboy's Lament or The Streets of Laredo)[23] and the gambling hall (St. James' Infirmary).