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Broadside ballad entitled 'Letters of Gold' |
CommentaryThis ballad begins: 'Engraven in letters of honour and fame, / On history's page may be seen, / The men who for daring have gained a grait name, / Endeared to the Island of Green!' The text preceding it reads: 'Sung and Composed by PATRICK FEENEY. / This Popular Song can be had the Poet's Box, / Overgate, Dundee, / NEW SONGS OUT EVERY WEEK.' It is most unusual to have an author's name attached to a Poet's Box publication. It would, therefore, be curious to know the circumstances under which this was published. The name and the Irish theme of the song suggest that it was written to appeal to an Irish audience. Certainly huge numbers of Irish immigrants settled in Dundee and the nearby village of Lochee, seeking work in the local jute mills. 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(113b)
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