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Broadside ballad entitled 'Hatton Woods' or 'The Bonnie Woods o' Hatton' |
CommentaryVerse 1: 'Ye comrades and companions, and all ye females dear, / To my sad lamentations, I pray you lend an ear ; / There was once I lo'ed a bonnie lass, I lo'ed her as my life, / And it was my whole intention to make her my wedded wife.' This sheet was published by the Poet's Box of the Overgate, Dundee. The Poet's Box of Dundee published many broadside ballads such as this, as can be seen from the list at the bottom of this sheet. Dundee locals could buy copies from street pedlars or by calling into the Poet's Box. For those living further afield, the company would also sent sheets by post, in return for stamps, which they would presumably use in their everyday business, and stamps covering the cost of postage. 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(32a)
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