Crime, politics, romance, emigration, humour, tragedy, royalty and superstitions

February 20, 2005 3:02 PM

The Word on the Street :: A collection of over 1800 broadsides published in Scotland between 1650 and 1910, featuring both digital images of the original Broadsides as well as transcriptons of the texts. You can just review the highlights or search or browse the entire collection.
posted by anastasiav (13 comments total)

THANK YOU! I can see this site will eat up a lot of my time in the near future. A perfect find.
posted by Melinama at 3:07 PM on February 20, 2005

Wonderful! Ooh, here's Burke and Hare.

Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief
And Knox the boy that buys the beef!
posted by languagehat at 3:13 PM on February 20, 2005

this is great stuff , cheers.
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:26 PM on February 20, 2005

Very cool site! Thanks, anastasiav.

Apologies for what is a bit of a self-link (I worked on this project), but those interested in similar street literature from this period shouldn't miss Streetprint: Revolution & Romanticism.
posted by flaneur at 3:30 PM on February 20, 2005

Super interesting. I wish things like this still existed today. Blogs have a similar style, but don't access a local populace as readily as these broadsides did. Very cool site.
posted by CaptMcalister at 3:42 PM on February 20, 2005

Wow. First-hand reports of heated conflicts in the early industrial age. I love the judge's comments to the handloom workers who rioted at a steam mill in 1826:

'There has been, God knows, a great pressure of distress in this country, but it cannot be permitted to individuals to carve their own relief'
posted by mediareport at 3:49 PM on February 20, 2005

Heather Jock was stark and grim,
Faught wi' a' would fecht wi' him;
Swauk and supple, sharp and thin,
Fine for gaun against the win

I love that, thanks anastasiav for the link. It's all local news for me.
posted by aisforal at 4:42 PM on February 20, 2005

Great site!
posted by ericb at 5:00 PM on February 20, 2005

Wow, what a cool find! -- a lost art.
posted by undule at 5:15 PM on February 20, 2005

Marvelous find, anastasiav! Thanks!
posted by madamjujujive at 5:52 PM on February 20, 2005

Lovely site. Theres a great insight into period humour with this - very surreal - story.
posted by fingerbang at 7:23 PM on February 20, 2005

incredible! thanks!
posted by amberglow at 7:51 PM on February 20, 2005

From onre called Sale of a Wife :

"The women of the neighbourhood gathered to the number of 700, and armed themselves with stones, some threw them, and others put them in their stockings and handkerchiefs, and made a general charge through the mob, knocking every one down that came in their way, until they got up to the auctioneer, when they scratched and tore his face in a dreadful manner, in consequence of the insult the fair sex had received."
posted by davy at 7:56 PM on February 20, 2005