Commentary
This elegy begins: 'JEalous I am, Mourners are scarce adayes, / Time will have Period, ere Tears dime soe Eyes : / Admit the Reason never be so great, / The Signs of sorrow weareth out of date.' No publication details have been given, and the composition has been initialled 'M.M.' The elegy is written in an acrostic form, where the first letter of every fifth line is boldly capitalised. Looking down the page, instead of horizontally, the words 'JAMES EARLE OF PERTH' are spelt. James was the 3rd Earl of Perth, and lived at Drummond Castle, his family seat. He died on 2nd June, 1675. 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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Date of publication:
1675 shelfmark: L.C.Fol.76(134)
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