The ballads performed multiple functions: ballad singers travelled through the country, gathering and spreading news. Many songs are about bloody murders (which are often described in gory detail), thefts and other crimes. Another regular staple were disasters such as fires or floods. Some ballads brought political news, sometimes accompanied by the singer’s personal opinion, reports on military battles or the lives of heads of state. Most of the songs, however, like today’s pop songs, were about love.
Market singers offered their audience information, entertainment and moral education. They didn’t do so for free: to avoid being labelled beggars, ballad singers offered printed versions of their songs for sale, often under the form of large sheets printed on a single side: broadsides or broadsheets. Members of the audience who liked what they heard bought a copy, to be able to repeat the song later to their friends in the pub or family members back home.
In order to maximize sales, a single broadsheet often contained multiple songs and various themes. Singers saw no problem in combining religious songs with love songs and murder ballads. This way, a broadside could always be sold to someone who was interested in at least one of the songs or genres. Perhaps customers could also use the pious songs as a cover for buying the murder song that really interested them.
The largest collection of broadside ballads in the Conscience Library is that of the former Folklore Museum of Antwerp, which contains 1590 copies described in a separate collection description. Many hundreds of broadside ballads acquired at different times are yet to be identified in the catalogue. Some can be found using the keyword ‘Songbook. Broadsheet ballad’ in the ‘type of document’ index.