Broadside ballad entitled 'King Pippin'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'I sing of KING PIPPIN, the chief of his race, / The joy of the garden, the pride of the place -'. The text preceding this reads: 'Sung with unbounded applause by S-r T.D.L-r, Bart, at a late Whig Dinner. / TUNE - "Derry down"'. Parts of an 'Old Song' have been included at the bottom of the sheet, which was published by Butler of Edinburgh.

Broadsides were cheaply produced and easily available and as a result they reached a wide audience, comprising a variety of people. There are many Whig-themed broadsides held in the National Library of Scotland's collection and the party seemed to have made full use of the printing and distribution facilities available at the time. It is curious to note, however, that the number of enfranchised citizens previous to 1833 was only 6% of the population and that by 1833 this had only grown to 12%. It makes a lot of this publicity appear a little needless, as not many people were involved in the voting procedure.

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.

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