Broadside ballad entitled 'The Lass o' Glenshea'

Commentary

This ballad begins: 'On a bonny day when the heather was blooming, / And the silent hill humm'd with the sair laden bee; / I met a fair maiden as homeward I was riding, / A herding her sheep on the hills o' Glenshea.'

This ballad addresses a common theme of broadsides - the differences between northern and southern Scots. Here they are highlighted as clothing, education and manners. The Highland lass, Jenny, however, is prettier than any southern girl and, it is suggested, has an open and innocent air about her. This broadside also has a happy ending, with neither partner regretting their choice, even after such a long time together.

Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read unfolded. They carried public information such as proclamations as well as ballads and news of the day. Cheaply available, they were sold on the streets by pedlars and chapmen. Broadsides offer a valuable insight into many aspects of the society they were published in, and the National Library of Scotland holds over 250,000 of them.

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