Songs and Poems

Many of the broadsides published were songs and poems. As the traditional minstrel declined in popularity, publishing broadsides containing songs and poems grew more popular. Songs in the broadsides were published to existing Scottish tunes or to new tunes written for the new song. Most ballads were sung by hawkers, or street traders, who were selling the broadsides. When the majority of the population at the time couldn’t read, songs and poems were a way of sharing information and news without having to read. Famous writers and poets, such as Robert Burns, sometimes wrote poems and songs for the broadsides, but most were written by unknown authors. Below we have produced some summary visualisations about the topic of songs in the broadsides and the most commonly used words.