The Pimlico Tar or The Female's Disappointment

Broadside 'Sweetheart' ballad entitled 'The Pimlico Tar or The Female's Disappointment'. The street selling of broadside ballads was widespread throughout London in the late 18th and early 19th century. Nautical 'Sweetheart ballads' were particularly popular and often referred to a sailor's unfaithfulness when travelling abroad. The heart of the ballad trade was the Seven Dials area of London where small back street printers such as John Pitts and Jemmy Catnach would use old type and woodcut blocks to quickly produce material covering a range of popular subjects. The ballad writers who were often required to produce material on the spot would receive little reward from the printers for their efforts, reportedly sometimes only a few pints of ale.