Commentary
Verse 1: 'I travelled the whole way from Dounoughadee, / The flourishing city of Glasgow to see ; / When I came there the first meat I saw, / Was boil'd roasted herring at the Broomielaw.' No publication details have been included on this sheet. This ballad gives a very real impression of the 'Conoughtman's' wanderings through Glasgow. The majority of readers were probably familiar with the city, and would have found it easy to imagine the man from the west of Ireland making his way from the Exchange to George Square and on to the Green and the mills of Bridgeton. His strange encounters with various unusual characters along the way give this account a rather dream-like quality. Early ballads were dramatic or humorous narrative songs derived from folk culture that predated printing. Originally perpetuated by word of mouth, many ballads survive because they were recorded on broadsides. Musical notation was rarely printed, as tunes were usually established favourites. The term 'ballad' eventually applied more broadly to any kind of topical or popular verse.
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