Broadsides and Penny Ballads (1600s - 1800s)

Broadsides, sometimes called penny ballads, are single sheets of paper with printing normally on one side only. Broadside ballads were popular songs, sold for a penny or half-penny in the streets of towns and villages around Britain between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. These songs were performed in taverns, homes, fairs, or wherever a group of people gathered to discuss the day's events or to tell tales of heroes and villains.

Broadsides and Penny Ballads Sheet Music