Broadside concerning the trial and sentence of William Pollock

Commentary

This trial report begins: 'A full account of the Trial and Sentence of William Pollock, for the barbarous murder of his Wife, who is to be executed at Edinburgh on the 22d March.'

Broadsides covered a wide variety of subject areas, including political and humourous songs, ballads, official government proclamations, public notices, current and historical events, and strange phenomena. The most popular by far, however, were those dealing with crime and punishment. The more gruesome the crime and extreme the punishment, the more popular the broadside.

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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