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Broadside ballads entitled 'Home, Dearie, Home', 'He was only a Private Soldier' and 'Hunting Tower, Or, When Ye Gang Awa' Jamie' |
CommentaryThe first ballad begins: 'A beauteous fair damsel in London did dwell, / A young man fell in love with her as some people tell'. The second ballad begins: 'He was only a private soldier - / One of the rank and file'. The third ballad begins: 'When ye gang awa' Jamie, / Far across the sea, laddie'. This broadside was published by the Poet's Box of the Overgate, Dundee, and includes two illustrations: one of a man in uniform and the other of a woman's head. At the time of its publication this sheet would have been perceived as good value for money, as the majority of broadsides only carried one ballad. 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 at 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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shelfmark: RB.m.143(127)
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