Broadside regarding a wedding at Crosscauseway

Commentary

This report begins: 'A Full and Particular Account of that Funny and Laughable WEDDING that took place in Crosscauseway, Edinburgh, on Tuesday Evening, the 15th March 1815, between a young Dashing Highland Lad, and a well known Old Lady of that place.' Unfortunately, no publication details have been included, although handwritten at the top of the sheet is the date, '20 March, 1825'.

Broadsides regarding such unlikely unions appear to have been extremely popular and elicited much humour. The National Library of Scotland's broadside collection includes many such accounts. In some cases, the marriage is between a rather pretty young woman and a decrepit old man. Here, however, the tables have been turned and it is a rather dashing young man wishing to wed a much older woman. It soon becomes apparent that the young man has abandoned his bride at the alter and run off with the funds he was given to clothe himself for the occasion. Highly formulaic and very possibly invented for sheer entertainment value, it nevertheless appears rather heartless to describe this poor woman's predicament as 'Funny and Laughable'.

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.

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