Broadside entitled 'By Royal Command'

Commentary

This satirical notice continues: 'THE following Rules and Regulations have been drawn up for the purpose of putting down all forms of sin and vice:- / 1. No one to be out after dark'. The Royal coat-of-arms has been included at the top of the page and the whole piece is contained within border.

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. 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.

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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