[Huntingdon]: Jenkinson, [paper watermarked 1794]

Printed locally, this elegant song sheet makes it quite clear what was expected from the young people of late eighteenth-century East Anglia. The religious element is far less obvious here than in most of the literature; God appears only in the final verse. The key message was to keep good company, an idea which is central to much instructional literature. Young people with good parents started out well but were corrupted by consorting with the bad elements of society, the “mischievous giddy throng” of the first verse. Working hard is presented as essential for living a good life.

Broadsides.B.79.38