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Broadside ballad entitled 'The Drunkard's Raggit Wean' |
CommentaryThis ballad begins: 'A wee bit raggit laddie gangs wan'ren thro' the street, / Wadin' 'mang the snaw wi' his wee hackit feet, / He's shiv'rin i' the cauld blast, greetin' wi' the pain.' The text preceding it reads: 'New Songs out every week. Copies of this Popular Song can always be had at the Poet's Box, 224 Overgate, Dundee.' Dundee is renowned for its numerous pubs, with roughly one pub to every 7 heads of household in Dundee, not all that long ago. This plaintive little piece, however, is an interesting social comment and shows that society was aware of the 'urchins' wandering the streets. Drinking and its results are not only highlighted here but this is also an interesting description of working class life and family expectations. 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(97a)
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