There's a writer behind every single song lyric, but the vast majority of these authors remain unknown to us. This is mostly due to the kind of printing we are dealing with here: the very cheapest kind, intended for direct use right there on the street. People who bought these songs had little interest in the author's identity. In cases where the author's name was published along with the song, it was still lost as the songs passed into oral tradition.

Some singers would compose their own songs based on news events. In some cases, this was done by an acquaintance of the songs' publisher. In these cases, no author's names were published either. Not until the late nineteenth century did broadsides feature the work of popular performing artists, such as Willy Derby and Lou Bandy. Their names were of course included on the broadsides that were printed.