Broadside ballad entitled 'The Queen's Visit to Scotland'

Commentary

Verse 1: 'The Queen is coming here they say, / To Scotland coming down; / Prince Albert will be with her too, / We shall see them soon.' A woodcut crown decorates the top of the page.

Queen Victoria made her first tour of Scotland in 1842, five years after succeeding to the crown and two years after her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The precedent for visiting Scotland had been re-established by George IV in 1822 - the first royal visit to Scotland for over 150 years. It was upon this visit that Albert and Victoria, especially, fell in love with the Scottish Highlands. The couple would eventually go on to purchase the Balmoral estate, in 1852. This provided the family with a relatively peaceful and secluded holiday home.

This style of text, with its implicit political propaganda, would not only have made for compelling entertainment, but would also perhaps have stimulated political thought, reasoning and debate.

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