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Broadside ballad entitled 'Oor Wee Kate' |
CommentaryVerse 1: 'Was there ever sic a lassie kent as oor wee Kate? / There's no a wean in a' the toon like oor wee Kate; / Baith in an' out, at kirk and schule she rins at sic a rate, / A pair o shoon list last a month wi poor wee Kate.' Below the title we are told that 'Copies can always be had at the Poet's Box, 192 OVERGATE, DUNDEE'. 'Shoon' means 'shoes'. This light-hearted ballad tells of a family's humorous concern regarding the tomboyish behaviour of their wee lassie, Kate. The ballad provides the reader with a litany of her mischievous scrapes, though the writer concedes that Kate is just full of life rather than an ill-behaved child. In short, the ballad is a celebration of the joys and tribulations that a lively young girl can bring to a family. Many broadside ballads such as this one are held in the National Library of Scotland's collection. It is not clear what the connection between the different Poet?s Boxes were. They almost certainly sold each other?s sheets. It is known that John Sanderson in Edinburgh often wrote to the Leitches in Glasgow for songs and that later his brother Charles obtained copies of songs from the Dundee Poet?s Box. There was also a Poet?s Box in Belfast from 1846 to 1856 at the address of the printer James Moore, and one at Paisley in the early 1850s, owned by William Anderson. Early ballads were dramatic or humorous narrative songs derived from folk culture that predated printing. Originally perpetuated by word of mouth, many ballads survive because they were recorded on broadsides. Musical notation was rarely printed, as tunes were usually established favourites. The term 'ballad' eventually applied more broadly to any kind of topical or popular verse.
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Probable period of publication:
1880-1900 shelfmark: L.C.Fol.70(14b)
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