Bringing historic Welsh ballads to a global audience
7 January 2011
Historic news once sung on street corners is now being promoted online in a new resource for modern audiences, thanks to a research partnership involving the National Library of Wales, Cardiff University's School of Welsh, and Information Services' Special Collections and Archives (SCOLAR).
The project has made 4,000 ballads from 18th and 19th century Wales available online.
The songs document the important issues of their day such as workers' rights and crime, as well as local festivals, village gossip, and news on overseas events. The ballads were the 'daily newspapers' of the poor throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were sold cheaply and widely at markets, fairs, and villages.
Funded by a £66,000 grant from the JISC, the independent body for technology innovation in colleges and universities, the project has completed the network of digital resources giving access to these precious documents.
Staff from SCOLAR and the National Library of Wales digitised around 15,000 pages of rare Welsh and English language ballads to make them available for audiences around the world to study and enjoy.
The launch, at the National Eisteddfod of Wales at Ebbw Vale, was hosted by the President of the National Library, Lord Dafydd Wigley, on Thursday 5th August.
Find out more...
Special Collections and Archives (SCOLAR)