• Ballads
  • Essays
    The ballad business Methodology Texts, tunes and pictures Audiences, performances and recordings The Musicians reflect Collectors and collections Broadside ballads and the origins of pop
  • Project
    The history of the project Project participants Funding and Partners Acknowledgements
  • Website
    A user’s guide to the website Conventions of presentation Licensing and citation Contact us
  • Search

Top pop from seventeenth-century England. Broadside ballads were single-sheet songs that sold for a penny a piece. This website concentrates on over 100 resoundingly successful examples that you can investigate through recordings, images and a wealth of other materials. Whether you are interested in music, art, love, gender, tragedy, politics, family life, crime, history, humour or death, you will find something to engage you here. See also User’s Guide.

History - Ancient/mythological   Watts, Andy   No Known Copy  

Showing 1 to 8 of 8

1 A proper new Ballad, intituled, The wandring Prince of Troy [Pepys 1.84-85]
24 An Excellent Ballad, intituled, The Constancy of/ Susanna [Bodleian Douce 1 (30a)]
61 The Wandring Jew,/ OR, The Shoo-maker of Jerusalem [Pepys 1.524-25]
63 A most godly and comfortable Ballad of the glorious/ Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ [Roxburghe 1.258-59]
67 A new Ditty, shewing the wonderfull Miracles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ [Pepys 1.58]
76 Saint Georges commendation to all Souldiers [Pepys 1.87]
90 Cupids Courtesie:/ OR,/ The young Gallant foild at his own Weapon [Euing 39]
101 Saint Bernards Vision./ OR,/ A briefe Discourse (Dialogue-wise) betweene the Soule and the Body of a dam/ned man newly deceased [Roxburghe 1.376-77]

Top Fives

Click any item to filter the ballad list.
Use the search function to find additional material.

Authors

  • Anonymous  (7)
  • P., J.  (1)

Publishers

  • Coles (aka Coules), Fra...  (8)
  • Clark, John  (7)
  • Passinger, Thomas  (7)
  • Thackeray, William  (7)
  • Vere, Thomas  (7)

Topics

  •   History - ancient/mytho...  (8)
  • Religion - Bible  (5)
  • Religion - Christ/God  (5)
  • Emotions - anger  (4)
  • Places - extra-European  (4)

Instruments

  • Cittern  (3)
  • Curtal  (2)
  • Fiddle  (2)
  • Bassoon  (1)
  • Drum  (1)

Performers

  •   Watts, Andy  (8)
  • Lewin, Giles  (7)
  • Davis, Jub  (3)
  • Ellis, Vivien  (3)
  • Vitale, Steno  (3)

Tunes

  • Cupid's courtesy  (1)
  • Fortune my foe  (1)
  • In peascod time  (1)
  • King Solomon  (1)
  • Rogero  (1)

Woodcuts

  • Barefoot giant  (1)
  • Christ's Resurrection  (1)
  • Cupid in circle  (1)
  • Jesus with kneeling wom...  (1)
  • Naked man awakening  (1)

Holding Libraries

  • British Library  (8)
  •   No known copy  (8)
  • Pepys Library, Magdalen...  (8)
  • National Library of Sco...  (7)
  • Bodleian Library, Oxfor...  (5)
  • Beinecke Library, Yale...  (4)
  • University of Glasgow  (3)
  • Central Library, Manche...  (2)
  • Shirburn Ballads  (2)
  • Folger Shakespeare Libr...  (1)
  • Houghton Library, Harva...  (1)
  • Manchester Central Libr...  (1)
  • Pierpont Morgan Library  (1)

About the Project | Funding and Partners | Licensing and citation

© The 100 Ballads Project 2023