Related Research Articles
A broadside is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly in Britain, Ireland and North America because they are easy to produce and are often associated with one of the most important forms of traditional music from these countries, the ballad.
"Geordie" is an English language folk song concerning the trial of the eponymous hero whose lover pleads for his life. It is listed as Child ballad 209 and Number 90 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad was traditionally sung across the English speaking world, particularly in England, Scotland and North America, and was performed with many different melodies and lyrics. In recent times, popular versions have been performed and recorded by numerous artists and groups in different languages, mostly inspired by Joan Baez's 1962 recording based on a traditional version from Somerset, England.
"King John and the Bishop" is an English folk-song dating back at least to the 16th century. It is catalogued in Child Ballads as number 45 and Roud Folk Song Index 302.
"The Sprig of Thyme", "The Seeds of Love", "Maiden’s Lament", "Garners Gay", "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" or "Rue" is a traditional British and Irish folk ballad that uses botanical and other symbolism to warn young people of the dangers in taking false lovers. The song was first documented in 1689 and the many variants go by a large number of titles.
The Unfortunate Rake is a ballad, which through the folk process has evolved into a large number of variants, including allegedly the country and western song "Streets of Laredo".
Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth was an English clergyman, known as an editor of ballads, poet and artist.
"A Ballad upon the Popish Plot" is an early modern English broadside ballad about a fabricated conspiracy known as "The Popish Plot" that occurred between 1678 and 1681 in the kingdoms of England and Scotland, during a period of widespread social and cultural prejudice against Catholicism. The song records an indictment of the Plot—a crucial consequence of national religious conflict that arguably began with the English Reformation—in the form of the ballad, one of the most time-honored and influential styles of popular music.
A Voyage to Virginia is an English broadside ballad. Although surviving copies of the broadside date back to the late 17th century, the ballad could have been available in the early to mid-17th century. The ballad is told from the point of view of a soldier, who is saying farewell to his love, Betty. Copies of the broadside can be found at the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and Magdelene college.
"The Wandering Prince of Troy" is an early modern ballad that provides an account of the interactions between Aeneas, the mythical founder of Rome, and Dido, queen of Carthage. Although the earliest surviving copy of this ballad dates to c. 1630, the records of the Stationers' Register show that it was first licensed to Thomas Colwell for printing nearly seventy years prior in c. 1564 or 1565. The narrative of the ballad loosely parallels the events in books 1–4 of Virgil's Aeneid and the seventh epistle of Ovid's Heroides. Like many ballads from the period, "The Wandering Prince of Troy" was frequently reprinted in broadside format. Various copies of such broadside facsimiles exist today in multiple libraries: the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, the library at the University of Glasgow, and the library at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Online facsimiles of the ballad broadsides are also available.
The complaint and lamentation of Mistress Arden of Feversham in Kent is a 17th-century English broadside ballad that details the murder of Thomas Arden by his wife Alice, her lover Mosby, and several others in 1551 in the town of Faversham, Kent. The ballad's full title is "The complaint and lamentation of Mistresse Arden of / Feversham in Kent, who for the loue of one Mosbie, hired certaine Ruffians / and Villaines most cruelly to murder her Husband; with the fatall end of her and her / Associats." It was entered into the Stationers' Register on July 8, 1663. The ballad is framed as the scaffold confession of Alice Arden, related in the moments before her execution by burning at the stake. The events in the ballad closely parallel both the source text for the event, Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the anonymous 16th-century English play Arden of Faversham. The British Library holds the only existing copy of the ballad in their Roxburghe collection.
Amintor's Lamentation for Celia's Unkindness is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century that tells the story of a young man who falls in love the coy Celia who does not love him back, and leaves the country to avoid him. The ballad begins with Amintor lamenting her refusal to return his love, and concludes with Celia's response, in which she accuses Amintor of using charm and arts to try to steal her purity. Sung to the tune of "Since Celia's My Foe." Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. On-line transcriptions of the ballad are also available for public consumption.
"The Beggars Chorus" or "The Jovial Crew" is an English broadside ballad from the mid-18th century. It celebrates the life of a beggar, and treats begging as a legitimate English trade. Sung to the tune of A Begging We Will Go. Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the Huntington Library.
The Last News From France is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century. It tells the story of Charles II's escape to France following the Battle of Worcester, as told by the man who helped him escape by dressing as a woman. Sung to the tune of When the King Enjoys His Own Again. Copies of the broadside can be found at the University of Glasgow Library, the British Library, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Facsimiles are also available on-line for public consumption.
The Downfall of William Grismond is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century, also known as William Grismond's Downfall. William Grismond, the narrator, sings the song as a warning to other men. He lied to a woman in order to satisfy his lust, and then killed her when she became pregnant. For this, he must die, and he warns other men not to do the same as him. Sung to the tune of Where is My Love? Copies of the ballad can be found in the National Library of Scotland, the British Library, and the University of Glasgow Library. On-line facsimile transcriptions are also available for public consumption.
The Despairing Lover is an English broadside ballad from the late-17th century, written by Edward Ford. It is about a man who loses his lover and vows to kill himself, until she saves him by returning at the end of the ballad. It is paired with A Constant and Kind Maid, in which the woman becomes the man's constant and loving wife. Sung to the tune of Fortune My Foe or Aim Not Too High, though according to William Chappell there is some controversy over the compatibility of these tunes. Copies of the broadside can be found at the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. On-line facsimile transcriptions are also available for public consumption.
The Princely Lovers Garland is an English broadside ballad from the 18th century. It tells the story of a young royal couple who overcome separation, shipwreck, imprisonment, and the princess's father to finally join together in happy marriage. Copies of the broadside are available at the Huntington Library, the British Library, and the National Library of Scotland.
True Love Requited, or the Bailiff's Daughter of Islington is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century. It tells the story of a young couple from Islington who are separated by a seven-year apprenticeship, only to encounter each other once more along the road to London and live happily ever after. Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Facsimile transcriptions are also available on-line for public consumption.
The Low Country Soldier is an English broadside ballad dating back to the late 17th- or early 18th-centuries about a soldier who returns to England as a poor beggar. After pleading with various people to give him money, he decides to forgo the life of a beggar and becomes a highwayman. Not to be confused with The Low Country Soldier Turned Burgomaster. Copies of the broadside can be found at the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the University of Glasgow Library and Magdalene College, Cambridge.
The Merchants Daughter of Bristow is an English broadside ballad from the 17th century about a young woman who defies her father and follows her lover to Italy, where she saves him from religious persecution and execution. Also known as Maudlin the Merchants Daughter. Copies of the broadside can be found in the British Library, the University of Glasgow Library, and Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Transportation ballads are a genre of broadside ballads that concern the transportation of convicted criminals, originally to the American colonies and later to penal colonies in Australia. They were intended to serve as warnings of the hardships that come with conviction and thereby a deterrent against criminal behavior. Transportation ballads were published as broadsides—song sheets sold cheaply in the streets, at markets and at fairs. Many have passed into the folk tradition.
References
- ↑ Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth, The Bagford Ballads: Illustrating The Last Year of the Stuarts. Hertford: Stephen Austin & Sons, 1878 (pg. 571)