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Broadside ballad entitled 'The Destruction of Abercrombie!'

Commentary

Verse 1 begins: 'ABERCROMBIE came down like a wolf on the fold, / And his pockets were furnish'd with Devonshire gold'. There is a hand-written note dating this sheet to the 9th July 1832. There is also a woodcut of a well-dressed but merry gentleman straddling a barrel of beer in a cellar.

The Abercrombie mentioned in the first line here, refers to the Right Honourable James Abercrombie, later elevated to Lord Dunfermline. He was the agent of the sixth Duke of Devon (1790-1858), as well as being a speaker in the House of Commons between 1835 and 1839. This further explains his presence here and that of the Duke of Devon. The first line here is a direct quote from Byron's 'Destruction of Sennacherib' where the name 'Abercrombie' reads 'Assyrian' and a comparison is perhaps being drawn here. Broadsides were often used as a vehicle for political satire and comment as they reached such a wide audience.

This style of text, with its implicit political propaganda, would not only have made for compelling entertainment, but would also perhaps have stimulated political thought, reasoning and debate.

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Probable date published: 1832   shelfmark: L.C.1268
Broadside ballad entitled 'The Destruction of Abercrombie!'
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