Ballads and Songs

Abstract

Chapter 8 deals with the broadside ballads and printed songs issued in Scotland between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries. It traces both the import of English texts and the production of domestic presses. The manner in which lyrics and tunes from south of the border influenced the development of single-sheet songs in Scotland is assessed. At the same time an independent repertoire of Scottish ballads in print is recovered and analysed. The discussion illustrates the ways in which political events and social change in early modern Scotland are reflected in the texts of these cheap and popular publications.