Broadside ballad entitled 'Will You Love Me Then As Now?'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'You have told me that you love me, / And your heart's thoughts seem to speak'. This sheet was published by James Lindsay of 9 King Street, Glasgow. There is a woodcut illustration at the top of the sheet which depicts the Prince of Wales' crest.

Many of James Lindsay's sheets carry illustrations which are loosely connected to the text. This one shows the crest of the Prince of Wales. A likely explanation for this is that George Linley, the author of the poem, had strong associations with the Prince of Wales. He also wrote the famous song 'God Bless the Prince of Wales'. The first Prince of Wales crest was created in 1301, by Edward I. This crest was adopted during the middle of the fourteenth century by Edward's grandson, the Black Prince. The feathers were taken from his mother's, Phillipa of Hainault's, crest and the motto 'Ich diene', which means 'I serve', from the King of Bohemia.

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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