Broadside entitled 'Lamentation of Elizabeth Banks'

Commentary

This execution notice begins: 'Presently lying under Sentence of Death in the Calton-Hill Jail, and who is to be Executed at Edinburgh on Monday the 3d day of August next'. It was published by Sanderson of the High Street, Edinburgh.

There are other reports on this case held in the National Library of Scotland's collection, suggesting that the story enjoyed popularity at the time. According to the report Banks was convicted, of killing her husband, during July 1835. She bought poison and, with the help of her daughter, administered it to Mr Banks, who it is suggested had beat her. The page then concludes with a moralising poem.

Broadsides, cheap and accessible, were often used as moral forums with 'lessons of life' included in the narrative. Broadside authors tended to see themselves as moral guardians and teachers in society. As such, publishers often disseminated 'educational' texts outlining the social and personal consequences of undisciplined or immoral behaviour.

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