Commentary
This humorous broadside begins: 'A particular Account of the comical Wedding of Mary Ritchie, a YOUNG MAID of 45, and Peter Murphy, a lusty YOUTH of 73, which took place on Thursday last in a Village near Edinburgh . . . to which is added an Account of a bloody Battle that was fought at the End of the Marriage Feast'. It was published by T. Duncan of the Saltmarket, Glasgow, and probably sold for one penny. This broadside provides the reader with a witty account of the celebrations following Ritchie and Murphy's wedding. Not only is the author of this account highly amused by the advanced ages of the newly-weds, and their reasons for postponing the wedding, he also bears witness to a spectacular drunken brawl and provides a list of 'blue Eyes, bloody Noses, scratched Faces, and damaged Wigs'. This highly amusing and tongue-in-cheek account would probably have sold extremely well, if for no other reason than its sheer entertainment value. 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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Probable period of publication:
1810-1830 shelfmark: 6.314(21)
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