Broadside ballad entitled 'The Landing of Royal Charlie'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'AROUSE! arouse! Ilk kilted clan, / Let High'land hearts lead on the van'. It was published by T.Birt of 10 Great St Andrews Street, London. A woodcut of the crest of the Prince of Wales has been included above the title.

It is curious to note that this piece of pro-Jacobite, pro-Scottish literature was published in London, although the content may explain why it reached Scotland! The use of the Prince of Wales' crest, however, as a decorative motif for a pro-Jacobite song, seems a little controversial, and even dangerous. Anti-Jacobite feelings ran quite high until the tour of Scotland by George IV, in 1822.

Broadsides are often crudely illustrated with woodcuts - the earliest form of printed illustration, first used in the mid-fifteenth century. Inclusion of an illustration on a broadside increased its perceived value, especially among the illiterate. To keep costs down, publishers would normally reuse their limited stock of generic woodcuts.

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