Broadside entitled: 'New Invented Act of Parliament, for the Benefit of Young Men, Old Men, Maids, Wives, Widows, Old Maids, Bachelors, &c.'

Commentary

This broadside parody begins: 'At a meeting of several Ladies and Gentlemen of this Town, held ior for the better Management and conducting Order and Regularity in Society, Mr STEADY in the Chair, the following Resolutions were passed . . .' Although no date of publication is included, the sheet was printed by John Sanderson of Edinburgh. There is a similar broadside entitled, 'New Intended Act of Parliament', that is also included in this collection.

As illustrated by the satirical nature of the woodcut, this amusing broadside is actually a parody of legislation passed by the government. This people's act contains 13 new laws, with each one being the sort of law that would make an audience laugh. For instance, law number five states that no old maid, wife or widow woman should take more than one pound on snuff in a week. Then to balance out the gender divide, law number eight states that if a husband comes home drunk, then the wife is entitled to pick his pockets while putting him to bed. Given the impertinent tone of these laws, it could be argued that this sheet is quite subversive towards Parliament.

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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