Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Graeme Allwright, and Phil Ochs. Broadside ballads Broadside ballads (also known as 'roadsheet', 'broadsheet', 'stall', 'vulgar' or 'come all ye' ballads) varied from what has been defined as the 'traditional' ballad, which were often tales of some antiquity, which has frequently crossed national and cultural boundaries and developed as part of a process of oral transmission. In contrast broadside ballads often lacked their epic nature, tended not to possess their artistic qualities and usually dealt with less consequential topics. However, confusingly many 'traditional' ballads, as defined particularly by the leading collectors, Svend Grundtvig for Denmark and Francis Child for England and Scotland, only survive as broadsides. Among the topics of broadside ballads were love, religion, drinking-songs, legends, and early journalism, which included disasters, political events and signs, wonders and prodigies. Generally broadside ballads included only the lyrics, often with the name of a known tune that would fit suggested below the title. Music critic Peter Gammond has written:Although the broadsides occasionally printed traditional 'rural' ballads, the bulk of them were of urban origin, written by the journalistic hacks of the day to cover such news as a robbery or a hanging, to moralize, or simply to offer entertainment. In their diversity they covered all the duties of the modern newspaper. The use of crude verse or doggerel was common, as this was thought to heighten the dramatic impact. The verses themselves would be based on the rhythms of various traditional airs that were in common circulation, sometimes credited, occasionally with the melody line printed. This gave the verses shape and substance and helped to make them memorable. A widely known tune like 'Greensleeves' was frequently used in this way; and the more popular items were employed ad nauseam. See also Street literature Popular prints List of Irish ballads Cromwell's Panegyrick, a 17th-century broadside ballad Notes Further reading Broadside Ballads:Songs from the Streets, Taverns, Theatres and Countryside of 17th Century England (incl songs, orig melodies, and chord suggestions) by Lucie Skeaping (2005), Faber Music Ltd. (Information and samples of more than 80 broadside ballads and their music) The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music by Claude M. Simpson (1966), Rutgers University Press. Out of Print. No ISBN. (540 broadside ballad melodies from all periods) Patricia Fumerton: The broadside ballad in early modern England : moving media, tactical publics, Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2020], External links