In the centuries before there were newspapers and 24-hour news channels, the general public had to rely on street literature to find out what was going on. The most popular form of this for nearly 300 years was 'broadsides' - the tabloids of their day. Sometimes pinned up on walls in houses and ale-houses, these single sheets carried public notices, news, speeches and songs that could be read (or sung) aloud.
The National Library of Scotland's online collection of nearly 1,800 broadsides lets you see for yourself what 'the word on the street' was in Scotland between 1650 and 1910. Crime, politics, romance, emigration, humour, tragedy, royalty and superstitions - all these and more are here
Link here
!SRFemale Foot Boy!
This is a rattling good yarn from the 1820's which would not look out of place in a modern tabloid. It concerns a young woman who had to dress as a man to earn a living.When her true identity was discovered, she was forced into marrying an unmarried mother - a bizarre arrangement which happily did not prove to be permanent!
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