Broadside celebrating the marriage of James Marquess of Montrose to Lady Christian Carnegie, 1702

Commentary

This wedding tribute begins: 'Permit, My Lord, me to congratulate / This your succession to a married state; / Whereby, My Lord, if guess aright I do, / (And Poets oftimes have been Prophets, too).' Although no publication details are included on this sheet, it must have been published shortly after Monday the 6th of April, 1702, which is the date when the couple became husband and wife.

This broadside takes the form of an epithalamium - that is, a song or poem in celebration of a marriage. In this epithalamium, the writer celebrates the marriage of James Marquess of Montrose to Lady Christian Carnegie, on Monday the 6th of April, 1702. James Graham was the grandson of the celebrated Marquis of Montrose, while Christian Carnegie was the daughter of the late Earl of North Esk. Clearly, this was very much a high society wedding of its time. Although there is little information about their marriage, the couple produced three sons: David Graham, 1st Earl Graham; William Graham, 2nd Duke of Montrose; and George Graham, MP.

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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