Broadside ballad entitled 'Big Kilmarnock Bonnet'

Verse 1: 'Resolved that I wid leave the plough, / I said tae farmer Brown; / The money that I've worked for, / Be kind as put it down. / In Glesca' town at half-past three, / This very day I mean tae be; / I've been ower lang a gawkie in the country.' The ballad was published by the Poet's Box, 224 Overgate, Dundee. The reference to a railway line into Glasgow dates this ballad to 1831 at the earliest. Early ballads were dramatic or humorous narrative songs derived from folk culture that predated printing. Originally perpetuated by word of mouth, many ballads survive because they were recorded on broadsides. Musical notation was rarely printed, as tunes were usually established favourites. The term 'ballad' eventually applied more broadly to any kind of topical or popular verse. This ballad is based around a common subject in Scottish writing in the eighteenth and especially nineteenth centuries, the idea that cities were dangerous and immoral places compared to the countryside. This theme was used, often humorously, by the famous Ayrshire writers Robert Burns and John Galt. The 'Kilmarnock Bonnet' of the title is a famous piece of headgear, dating back at least to 1647, when the 'Kilmarnock Corporation of Bonnet Makers' was founded.

Collection

Popular Print in Scotland, 1650-1850

Inventory Number

4501967

Title

Broadside ballad entitled 'Big Kilmarnock Bonnet'

Object Type

PhysicalObject

Measurements

- 95 x 247mm