Chapter I: Preface

The diffusion of knowledge by means of the Chapbook practically began with the introduction of printing into Scotland. From the days when the _Gude and Godlie Ballates_ of the Wedderburns were put in circulation, down to the middle of last century, the chapman was a travelling publisher of much importance. In crowded mart and on solitary moor he plied his calling: there he sold his broadsides by the ream, here he tempted the reading rustic to a judicious selection from his pack: in both cases he did what he could to spread knowledge and line his pockets.

The object of this volume is to provide a brief account of the chapman and his literary wares: to present a short survey of the literature of the common people during a period of three centuries, to trace the rise and influence of the Chapbook, and to mark its decay, or rather its blending into the cheap publication of the present time. The most important of the Chapbooks are discussed at length, and as many of them are valuable for the light they throw upon the life and customs of the people among whom they circulated, the extracts that have been made will doubtless be read with interest and enjoyment.

Much biographical and bibliographical information concerning authors and printers and publishers is given. The greater part of this is presented in footnotes, which have been introduced freely with the view of enhancing the usefulness and value of the work, and at the same time preventing the text from becoming overloaded with details.

To facilitate reference, an alphabetical list of all Chapbooks referred to in the volume is included. It will be found at page 145. A Glossary and General Index have also been added.

In the matter of Illustrations the book is well supplied. A number of the quaintest pictures are reproduced, many of which shew at once the crudities of art and the pictorial limitations with which early printers had to contend.

No pains have been spared to make the volume worthy the subject of which it treats, and it is hoped that it will be of value both as a contribution to the literature of the social life of Scotland, and as supplying, in the absence of an exhaustive history, a hitherto unwritten chapter of the literary annals of our country.

55 MILNBANK ROAD, DUNDEE, _July 1903_.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY, 9

HUMOROUS, 35

INSTRUCTIVE, 72

HISTORICAL, 72

BIOGRAPHICAL, 84

RELIGIOUS AND MORAL, 89

MANUALS OF INSTRUCTION, 99

ALMANACS, 100

ROMANTIC, 103

SUPERSTITIOUS, 107

SONGS AND BALLADS, 116