The Pedlar's Song

And other poems from the lost Victorian Manchester street poets

I’ve discovered some old Victorian magazines hidden away in the archives and they are a brilliant read.

Just a few headlines tell you everything you need to know about what you’ll find in the dusty pages of The Freelance, The Shadow and The Spy:

CONFESSIONS OF A MANCHESTER PAWNBROKER

OUR BARMAID

A TALK WITH A FENIAN

ROUNDS WITH A PARISH PRIEST

THE NIGHT SIDE OF MANCHESTER

Journalists on these magazines seem to have spent much of their evenings watching illegal dog fights and bare-knuckle boxing matches or getting a glimpse into slum pubs and lodging houses in the protective company of police officers.