Broadside ballad entitled 'Bra' Lass Will Ye Gang to North Highlands, Wi' Me'

Commentary

The ballad begins: 'It is down in yon meadow, and there I did see. / A bonnie wee lassie that dazzled my Eee'. The woodcut at the top of this sheet is unusually detailed and expressive for broadside publications. A uniformed man is kneeling at the feet of a well-dressed and veiled woman, both characters appear to be in emotional turmoil.

The Highland lad of the song pleads with this beautiful lass to uproot and go north. He offers to marry her, keep her safe and happy, and give her a good place in society - unusually honest and open sentiments expressed, by a man, in a broadside publication. Although at first hesitant, mainly because of the heartbreak her parents would feel, she eventually agrees. This sheet offers a brief insight into the Scottish migration around the country and the reasons for it.

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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