Welcome to Broadsidestories.net Here you'll find the website for the latest writings and fictions of Christopher Thomas. Read them free for a while on PC, tablet or phone. Broadside: 1. Papers printed between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries for sale on the street and containing news, popular songs, stories and poems. 2. A ship's side between bow and quarter. 3. The discharge of all the guns on one side of a ship, and therefore metaphorically, a verbal assault. |
Broadsides were truly Gray's short and simple annals of the poor.
The Broadside Stories will be a parcel of tales giving a picture of life in the late eighteenth century, especially the life of the class who produced the folksongs and music of South West England. They can be read as a sequence, though each should stand alone if you prefer to dip in and out. The songs in the titles and many of the other tunes referred to are largely accessible on You Tube (I have suggested links at the conclusion of each piece) and a variety of folksong websites, so are there to be enjoyed!
Return to the site from time to time to watch the stories change and grow, as all folksongs do. The Broadside Blog will look at roots and identity, family history, folk and the importance of heritage; concerns which may often be reflected in the stories. The Ashburton Page reflects my work as a trustee of the History |Museum in this ancient Stannary town on the southern edge of Dartmoor, and in particular how the greater currents of history were reflected in the lives of its inhabitants. Other Writings is a miscellany of items largely related to history and genealogy - and things I hope will be interesting, but which may not fit elsewhere! I welcome comment and polite controversy - that's what the contact page is for! |