Broadside ballad entitled 'Jemmie Forrest'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'Hey, Jemmie Forrest, are ye waukin' yet? / Or are your Baillies snoring yet?' The reader is directed to sing these lyrics to the 'Tune - Johnny Cope'. There is also a woodcut above the title which depicts a very grand coach and four.

The tune 'Johnny Cope' was a well-recognised and well-used Jacobite tune, which in turn had been well established in the oral tradition. Not only would its familiarity have appealed to readers but it kept the Jacobite memory alive. The song itself refers to a giant bungle. On her 1842 tour of Scotland, Queen Victoria was supposed to have been officially met and welcomed to the city of Edinburgh. The Lord Provost, James Forrest, however, missed her entrance and his entourage were mistaken for assassins, which placed both parties in real danger!

This style of text, with its implicit political propaganda, would not only have made for compelling entertainment, but would also perhaps have stimulated political thought, reasoning and debate.

previous