Broadside ballad entitled 'Poor Old Jeff'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: ''Twas just one year ago to-day, / That I remember well, / I sat down by dear Nelly's side'. This ballad begins: 'Twas just one year ago today / That I remember well / I sat down by dear Nelly's side / And a story she did tell . . . '

Set in Tennessee, this broadside uses lyrics and racial slurs from the minstrelsy tradition. The emphasis placed on the word 'free' could be interpreted as a comment that Old Jeff was enslaved while living in Tennessee. The grieving tone of the ballad is highlighted by the mourning narrator's desire to find shelter underneath a weeping willow - a tree has been associated with sorrow and bereavement since ancient times.This song was to be sung to its original tune and would have cost a penny to buy. It was published by the Poet's Box but the accompanying address has been burnt out of the sheet. It was issued on Saturday 1st October, 1870. There were Poet's Boxes located in most of Scotland's cities, although many of the attached addresses have been removed from their sheets. The reason for this remains unclear. These Boxes allowed poets to publish their work cheaply and quickly but often anonymously. Here the adverts at the bottom reveal some of the mechanisms of administration. A catalogue of songs is included as are directions for mail order. The nature of the printing is revealed and instructions for placing a commission are provided.

The Poet's Box in Glasgow operated from 1849 to 1911. Matthew Leitch was the proprietor at 6 St. Andrew Lane?s, a narrow street on the south side of Gallowgate, from 1850 to 1858. His son William Munsie Leitch worked at the same address from 1859 to 1865 and at varous addresses in London Street until 1911. Many of the broadsides published by the Glasgow Poet's Box were dated and some carried advertisements, not just for printed items but also for shoe blacking and 'soap for lovers'! Like the other 'boxes' in Dundee and Edinburgh, the Glasgow one sold love songs, sea shanties, parodies and dialogues. 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 in 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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