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Broadside ballad entitled 'Fareweel tae Blairgowrie' |
CommentaryVerse 1: 'As I gead oot ae May morning, / Ae morning very early, / There I spied a pretty fair maid, / Lamenting o' her dearie.' Chorus: 'So fare-ye-weel tae Blairgowrie, / Whaur oftimes I've been cheery; / An' fare-ye-weel tae Bromely Brae, / For I hae lost my dearie.' This broadside was published by the Poet's Box and could be purchased from their premises at 182 Overgate, Dundee, for one penny. Whilst broadsides were often bought from bookstalls or directly from the printer, they were generally sold by street vendors. Also known as patterers or chapmen, they would stand on busy thoroughfares or wander through the streets singing the songs they wished to sell. 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(124b)
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