I was just now looking at the on-line proceedings of the Old Bailey, a
wonderfully interesting resource:
http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
...and came upon the case of "Margaret Mears , otherwise Kirby, Jane
Smerk , otherwise Singing Jenny, Catharine Bowyer , theft with
violence: highway robbery, 24 Apr 1745"
http://hri.shef.ac.uk/db/bailey/gtrial.jsp?id=t17450424-32&orig=k&s_hil=ballad#hil
One of the witnesses in the case makes the remark:
"As to these people who appear against her, they are ballad singers,
and vile persons."
...making it sound as though the two things go hand in hand! Who knows
- perhaps they do! 8-)=
Best wishes,
Paul
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Paul Woods,
Assistant Librarian, Social Sciences,
Arts & Social Sciences Library,
University of Bristol Information Services,
Tyndall Avenue,
Bristol BS8 1TJ.
Tel.: 0117-9288029 (ext.) 8029 (int.) Fax: 0117-925-5334
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Home Page: http://info.bris.ac.uk/~lipw/paulhome.htm
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with
his friends." - Ernest Hemingway
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