Broadside entitled 'The Faithful Sheepherd'

Commentary

This memorial notice begins: 'A / Funeral POEM, / To the Memory of the pious and learned Pastor, the Reverend Mr. Thomas Paterson, Minister of the Gospel at St. Cuthbert's, who dropt Mortality Sabbath 22. May 1726.' The elegy begins: 'Jesus the faithful Sheepherd of the Flock'.

The most famous St Cuthbert's Church is situated on Lothian Road in Edinburgh, and was founded sometime in the twelfth century. The fact that so little information is given about the Reverend Paterson would suggest that the publisher believed he would be instantly recognisable, as would his church. This lack of contextual information emphasises that these sheets were the ephemeral entertainment of their time, and were not seen as a permanent historical record.

Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read unfolded. They carried public information often for entertainment, such as memorials and eulogies. Cheaply available, they were sold on the streets by pedlars and chapmen. Although many of the people are now lost to researchers, their stories offer a valuable insight into many aspects of the society they were published in.

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