Lines on the Debarkation of their Royal Highnesses The Duke & Duchess of Edinburgh at Gravesend on the 7th March 1874

Broadside ballad commemorating the arrival at Gravesend of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh on their return to England following their marriage at the Winter Palace in St Petersburg . The eight verse ballad by J.B. Ham refers to the ceremony and pageantry that accompanied the arrival of the young newlyweds . Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh was the second son of Queen Victoria, his bride her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia. As they docked at Gravesend accompanied by naval warships they were greeted by an audience of ticket holders and proceeded along the Pier draped with scarlet and gold braid cloth, flowers strewn in their path before embarking a train for Windsor via Waterloo.

Broadside ballads commemorating royal events were hugely popular with the masses. Cheaply printed and mass sold they were often purchased as souvenirs and hung in taverns and homes.