Commentary
This lamentation begins: 'PETER HENDERSON, late Letter Stamper in the General Post Office, Edinburgh, and who is to be Executed here on Wednesday the 16th July, 1828, for abstracting Money from and Destroying the Letters.' This broadside was printed in Edinburgh for William Henry, and was priced at one penny. The National Library of Scotland's collection also includes a broadside detailing the trial and sentence of Peter Henderon. Here, however, we have a lamentation attributed to Henderson, in which he expresses deep regret for his misdemeanours and begs for the mercy of Jesus. Whether these words were written or uttered by Henderon is not known for sure. The highly repentent and religious tone of this lamentation is found in the vast majority of last speeches that were printed. 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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Date of publication:
1828 shelfmark: F.3.a.13(28)
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