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Broadside ballad entitled 'The Lass o' Ballochmyle' |
CommentaryThis ballad begins: 'Fair is the morn in flowery May, / And sweet is night in autumn mild, / When roving through the garden gay, / Or wandering in the lonely wild; / But woman, nature's darling child, / There all her charms she does compile; / Even there her other works are foiled / By the bonnie lass o' Ballochmyle.' This ballad was published at 192 Overgate, Dundee, probably by the Poet's Box. It was to be sung to an 'original' tune, and was priced one penny. This is a version of a ballad whose authorship has often been credited to Robert Burns. In fact, the song credited to Burns started out as a poem to Wilhelmina Alexander (1753-1843) sister of the Laird of Ballochmyle. Burns's poem was later adapted into a song with the addition of the traditional chorus that also features in the song on this broadside. This is an example of how several different ballads based on the same story could evolve. It is not clear what the connection between the different Poet?s Boxes were. They almost certainly sold each other?s sheets. It is known that John Sanderson in Edinburgh often wrote to the Leitches in Glasgow for songs and that later his brother Charles obtained copies of songs from the Dundee Poet?s Box. There was also a Poet?s Box in Belfast from 1846 to 1856 at the address of the printer James Moore, and one at Paisley in the early 1850s, owned by William Anderson. 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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Probable period of publication:
1880-1900 shelfmark: L.C.Fol.70(89a)
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