home | background | illustrations | distribution | highlights | search & browse | resources | contact us |
Broadside ballad entitled 'MacGregor's Gathering' |
CommentaryThis ballad begins: 'The moon's on the lake and the mist's on the brae, / And the clan has a name that is nameless by day;'. Published in Dundee by the Poet's Box, the song was apparently 'Sung with great success by Miss G. Forrester'. It is possible that Miss Forrester was a local celebrity, and by using her name the publisher hoped to sell more copies. Although he is not credited here, 'MacGregor's Gathering' is one of Sir Walter Scott's (1771-1832) most famous poems. It was written in 1816, but it is possible that this broadside is of a later date. The titles of the songs at the bottom of the sheet give a clue, 'The Wondrous Telephone' and 'The Iron Horse' suggest that this is a late-nineteenth century broadside. 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. 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.
|
Probable period of publication:
1880-1900 shelfmark: L.C.Fol.70(27b)
|