Wig-maker in Edinburgh who rapidly prospered. Joined the Jacobite “Easy Club” and there entertained his fellow members with his early poetry.

By 1718 he had given up wig-making and became a bookseller. In 1719 he published a volume of “Scots Songs” which soon ran to a second edition. Between 1724 and 1727, Ramsay published three volumes of collected English and Scottish traditional ballads, together with songs he and his friends wrote, under the title of “The Tea-Table Miscellany”. One of Ramsay’s own compositions was “The Lass o’ Patie’s Mill”, which can be found in William Thomson’s “Orpheus Caledonius”.

In 1725 he published “The Gentle Shepherd”, which brought Ramsay instant success. By 1750 “The Gentle Shepherd” had reached a tenth edition. This pastoral drama, at first without songs, caused Leigh Hunt to write “Ramsay is in some respects the best pastoral writer in the world” and Pope is known to have admired the work.

Ramsay started a circulating library, the first of its kind in Scotland and his shop was a favoured meeting place for literati. He corresponded with Gay and Pope and was much in demand in the drawing-rooms of Edinburgh.

After 1730 Ramsay virtually stopped writing, and with admirable and rare perception said that he preferred not to take the risk that “the coolness of fancy that attends advanced years should make me risk the reputation I had acquired”.

He died aged 72 and was buried in Old Greyfriars churchyard where there is a monument to his memory. In Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, there is a statue of Ramsay.

Performances:

Broadcast 9^th July 1947 in a production by Robert Kemp, by the BBC Scottish Orchestra, conducted by Ian Whyte, with soloists Mary Ferrier, Mary Alexander, Kenneth MacKellar and Alex Carmichael, and Duncan Macrae as storyteller.

Broadcast 5^th January 1958 in a production by Robin Richardson and conducted by CTD.

• The Gentle Shepherd, 1949, for 8 solo voices, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and 1810 – 20 piano. Full score in the hand of CTD – 115pp; pencil sketches – 43pp.This is not the same version as the above, although it uses some of the same tunes, reworked and rescored, and there are additional instrumental numbers. Both versions were adapted by Maurice Lindsay, this one for the Edinburgh Festival, where it was produced by Tyrone Guthrie. The SMIC possesses a complete set of vocal and instrumental parts and a photocopy of the full score.

Performances:

1949 Edinburgh Festival in the Royal High School. It was broadcast by the same performers in October of that year. The instrumentalists, all members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, were Gerald Jackson (flute), Jack Brymer (clarinet), Terence McDonagh (oboe) and Edward Wilson (bassoon), with CTD conducting from the keyboard.

1962 Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow.

1986 Edinburgh Festival, by students of the Royal Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow.

b.Rome 1746, d.London 1825

Composer, music publisher and teacher.

In 1770 his opera La Raminga Fedele was produced and after meeting Edward Burney in Rome, he was invited on the latter’s recommendation to conduct the concerts of the Musical Society of Edinburgh.

Corri arrived in Scotland with his wife and family, his wife once having been one of his singing pupils, on a contract initially for three years. He became manager of Vauxhall pleasure gardens in London and the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh.

Corri suffered from financial difficulties on various occasions. In 1779 a music publishing business was established in the name of his son John, and after being in business alone for about a year, James Sutherland joined him and the firm continued until the latter’s death in 1790.

About this time Domenico Corri moved to London and became a music publisher in Soho, specialising in publishing vocal music.In 1774 his opera Alessandro nell’Indie was produced, and his son-in-law Jan Ladislav Dussek joined the publishing firm in 1794. Further financial problems faced Corri, and about 1800 Dussek fled abroad, leaving Corri to carry on the business which was eventually taken over by his son Montague in 1804. In 1806 The Travellers, Domenico Corri’s most successful opera was produced. From about 1820, Corri’s health deteriorated.

Corri lived at the time when the practice of the figured bass was in decline and he devised a new system of accompaniments and this can be seen in his publication “A select Collection of the most admired songs, duetts etc.” (3 volumes) of which there are two copies in the Wighton Collection, all 3 volumes also being available on microfiche.

In “The Singer’s Preceptor”, published 1810, there is an autobiographical note by Corri himself (dated 1^st November ), ending with the following delightfully obvious publicity for his wife’s contributions to the family income; NB Mrs Corri also instucts in vocal and instrumental music.(!)

There is also a copy of “The Singer’s Preceptor” in the Wighton Collection.

• Beware of Love

sung by Mr. Braham in the opera of “The Travellers” or “Musics Fascination”, composed by D. Corri, written by Mr. Cherry.

• The Grand Characteristic Overture to the Comic Opera of The Travellers or Music’s Fascination

now performing with unbounded applause at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, composed by D. Corri.

• New and Complete Collection of the Most Favourite Scots Songs

including a few English and Irish, with proper graces and ornaments peculiar to their character, likewise the new method of accompanyment of thorough bass.

• Select Collection of the Most Admired Songs, Duetts, etc

from operas in the highest esteem and from other works, in Italian, English, French, Scotch, Irish, etc., etc. In 3 books.

Vol. 1. Italian songs, rondeaus, duetts, etc. Vol. 2. English songs, duetts, terzetts, etc. Vol. 3. National airs, notturni, rondos, canzonette, duettini, terzetti, catches, and glees, all in their respective languages.

The music divided into phrases, sentences marked by points, with appropriate graces, cadences, etc., and accurate directions for the management of the voice; also an accompaniment arranged on a plan to enable any harpsichord player to accompany himself although unaquanted with the rules of thorough bass.

All volumes on microfiche.

• The Singers Preceptor; or, Corris Treatise on Vocal Music, calculated to teach the art of singing

proper rules to assist those who sing by ear only, so arranged as to enable the pupil to improve by their exercise in the absence of a master; with a selection of English, Scotch, Italian, and French songs, duets, etc., also cadenzas, graces, and other ornaments, and an accompaniment for the pianoforte; with memoirs of the author’s professional life. 2 vols. in 1.

• A Select Collection of 40 of the most Favorite Scots Songs

with symphonies, graces, and accompaniments for the pianoforte. 4^th edn.

• Twenty-four New Country Dances for the Year 1797

with their proper figures for the harp, pianoforte, and violin, as performed at the Prince of Waless and other assemblies.

Seated female figure; pillar to left with score (Old System) affixed to base; upper right a cherub holds a score of Corri’s New System.

Thomas Alexander Erskine, 6^th Earl of Kelly: b.1732, d.1781

Born at Kellie Castle, Fife, his schooling was interrupted by the 1745 rebellion, his family being of Jacobite persuasion. His first involvement with orchestral music appears to have been when he joined the Edinburgh Musical Society at the age of 17. Like young gentlemen of his age he embarked on the Grand Tour and studied composition and violin with Stamitz.

On returning to Edinburgh in 1756, he spent the rest of his life there, a dilletante, neither pursuing a career nor marrying. As Deputy Governor of the Edinburgh Musical Society, he was able to play an important part in the society during its most successful period.

Kelly composed overtures which received widespread acclaim and performance and, most importantly, he was asked to write minuets for one of the most splendid events of the century, Lord Stanley’s Fête Champetre, at The Oaks near Epsom, in 1774. He also belonged to “The Temple of Apollo”, a secret society of composers in London.

Although many of Kelly’s compositions have been lost, we still have overtures, most of them technically weak, but they gained him a success which lasted his lifetime. The overtures, “The Maid of the Mill” and “The Periodical Overture No.17 (1767)” are of greater complexity and merit.

In 1769 Kelly published six trio sonatas and in 1765 a set of six symphonies was published as being by “J. Stamitz, his pupil the Earl of Kelly, and others”. He continued to compose during the 1770s but none of this work is extant.

Weaknesses of composition, in some critics' eyes, do not detract from Kelly’s importance in Scottish music. Burney wrote that “there was no part of theoretical or practical music, in which he was not equally versed with the greatest professors of his time”.

• Trio Sonata 4 in C Major

for 2 violins (or flute / oboe and violin), and continuo.

Preface in English and German.

• Minuets and Songs

now for the 1^st time published with an introductory notice, by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe.

2^nd edn.1839

The Introduction is of considerable interest, listing the minuets and giving details of the sixteen ladies to whom the minuets are dedicated. Of the two songs, “The Lover’s Message” and “Death is now my only Treasure”, there is the commentary that the latter was sung by the celebrated castrato, Tenducci, and that the work which contains it was scarce even in 1839.

There is also some biography and the following delightful testimonial:

“His temper was as harmonious as his talents; in society, he was universally beloved for his convivial frankness, his good nature, and his good breeding; which, indeed, is but part of the other”.

“The Capillaire Minuet was composed by Lord Kelly, in honour of a Club called The Capillaire Club, of his own institution. It was a convivial meeting, the members of which were understood to drink nothing but Capillaire. This word was put upon the small liqueur glasses used by the Society, from one of which, in my possession, the device at the end of this account has been engraved”. (Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe)

Capillaire: an infusion of maidenhair fern flavoured with orange-flower water.

b.1773, d.1843

Edward Bunting was one of the best known piano teachers and organists of his time and the first systematic collector of Irish folk-songs, Until 1819 he lived and worked in Belfast and held a prominent position in the city’s musical life. He was the inspiration for the Belfast Music Festival of 1813, and founded the Belfast Harp Society and the Irish Harp Society.

In 1819 he married and moved to Dublin where he held the post of organist in St. Stephen’s Church and was for a time a partner in a music warehouse.

The meeting of harpists in Belfast in 1792 was an event of great importance in his career and there he notated the performances of traditional Irish players. He was able to preserve melodies which were otherwise certainly destined for extinction.

Bunting’s work suffered from the expectation of the public for words and piano arrangements to be added to the ancient melodies, usually inappropriately. There can be no doubt, however, that to the scholar of music Bunting’s works are of value and interest, innovative but hampered by lack of knowledge and the demands of his own society.

• General collection of the ancient music of Ireland, arranged for the pianoforte:

some of the melodies adapted for the voice to poetry chiefly translated from the original Irish songs by Thomas Campbell and other poets (including the compositions of O’Caghan, Conolan, and Carolan), with a dissertation on the Egyptian, British, and Irish harp.

Vol. 1.(Pirated) Published 1809?

Microfiche available

• General collection of the ancient Irish music:

containing a variety of admired airs never before published, and also the compositions of Conolan and Carolan, collected from the harpers, etc., in the different provinces of Ireland, and adapted for the pianoforte, with a prefatory introduction.

Vol 1 New edn.(Pirated) Published 1817?

Microfiche available

• The Ancient Music of Ireland. An edition comprising the three collections by Edward Bunting, originally published in 1796, 1809 and 1840.

Published 1969

b.Perthshire 1721, d.London 1807.

After reading law at Edinburgh University, he joined the army and saw active service in the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, in Flanders and in America, eventually reaching the rank of General.

He combined his army career with an active musical life. He was an amateur flautist of some distinction, composing for that instrument, and it is thought that James Oswald helped with the harmonisation of his sonatas. Both men, like the Earl of Kelly, were members of the secret society of composers known as “The Temple of Apollo”.

Reid incorporated Scottish folktunes into his marches and his fond memories of Scotland and Edinburgh University resulted in his greatest contribution to music, the endowment in his will of a chair of music at Edinburgh.

• Six Solos for a German Flute or Violin

with a thorough bass for the harpsichord by J[ohn] R[eid], Esq., a member of the Temple of Apollo. Printed for J. Oswald. Solos iii, iv,v,vi.

• A Second Sett of 6 Solos for a German Flute or Violin

with a thorough bass for the harpsichord by J[ohn] R[eid], Esq., a member of the Temple of Apollo. Printed for J. Oswald.

Scottish folksong editor and publisher. For 59 years he worked for the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Art and Manufactures in Scotland. Joined the Edinburgh Musical Society, played the violin in the orchestra and sang in the choir.

He developed an interest in Scottish folksongs set to classical arrangements and about 1791 he decided to publish a comprehensive collection for voice and piano trio, by the most renowned European composers. This cost a great deal of his private money and was not complete until 1841. Haydn was engaged to arrange folksongs and these were published in 1792 and 1795. Pleyel arranged other tunes and the first part of the “Select Collection of Scottish Airs” was published in 1793.

From the Preface:

“The Symphonies and Accompaniments next engaged his solicitude. For the composition of these, he entered into terms with Mr Pleyel, who fulfilled part of his engagement satisfactorily; but having then stopt short, the Editor found it necessary to turn his eyes elsewhere. He was so fortunate, however, as to engage Mr Kozeluch, and afterwards Dr Haydn, to proceed with the Work, which they have finished in such a manner as to leave him nothing to regret on Mr Pleyel's breach of engagement”..

Beethoven, Weber, Hummel and Bishop were also involved, Beethoven writing 126 settings and Haydn 187.

As mentioned above, this was not a cheap undertaking and, sadly, cannot be deemed a musical success, the Scottish folksong being largely of an alien nature to the arrangers, and if, as claimed in the Preface, Haydyn tackled the work con amore, Beethoven was angered by the simplification of his piano accompaniments to suit the demands and abilities of the drawing-room market. Indeed, he later refused George Thomson’s approaches to write chamber music, incorporating Scottish folktunes, pricing himself out of the publisher’s means.

As to the words of the songs, Thomson engaged Burns, Scott, James Hogg and others to rewrite songs to remove anything that might shock, presumably again pandering to the tastes of the lucrative drawing-room, polite society market, and the result is, not unexpectedly, rather unsatisfactory.

There are about 300 songs in six folio volumes, published between 1793 and 1841.

Now see where Caledonia’s Genius mourns,

And plants the holly round the tomb of Burns.

Other noteworthy publications, most of them also to be found in the Wighton Collection, are collections of Welsh and Irish Airs and a cantata by Sir Henry Bishop, based on “The Jolly Beggars” by Burns.

Of passing interest, George Thomson’s grand-daughter married Charles Dickens in 1836.

• Collection of the Songs of Burns, Sir Walter Scott. Bart., and other Eminent Lyric Poets, Ancient and Modern, united to the select melodies of Scotland and of Ireland and Wales, with symphonies and accompaniments for the pianoforte, by Pleyel, Haydn, Beethoven, etc.

6 vols. in 2.

Microfiche available.

• A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice; with symphonies and accompaniments for the pianoforte, violin and violoncello, above 100 of the number composed by Haydn, the others by Pleyel, Beethoven, Weber, etc., the poetry chiefly by Burns, the whole collection by G. Thomson, F.A.S.E.

6 vols. in 3.

• The Jolly Beggars, a cantata by Burns, set to music, with accompaniments for the pianoforte by Henry R. Bishop
• A Select Collection of Original Welsh Airs adapted for the voice, united to characteristic English poetry, never before published, with symphonies and accompaniments, composed chiefly by Joseph Haydn.

“The Orpheus Caledonius” seems to have been the earliest collection in which the favourite Scottish Airs appeared in conjunction with the Songs. It was published about the year 1725, by W. Thomson, London, who republished it, and added a second volume in 1733.

The “Tea-Table Miscellany”, published by the celebrated Allan Ramsay, in 1724 was the first general collection in which the admired Scottish Songs appeared without the Airs, though the poet had brought forward a smaller publication of the Songs some years before. In a separate Work, consisting of six very small books,he also published about 70 of the Airs, with a Bass to each, but whether at the same time with his Miscellany, or after the appearance of “Orpheus Caledonius”, is uncertain.

To the Miscellany, however, the publisher of the “Orpheus Caledonius”, as well as every succeeding Publisher, has been particularly obliged, —most of the songs which have so long been favourites, being found in the Miscellany. These were chiefly written by Ramsay and his friends, for such Scottish Airs as they thought ill-suited with the words, —Airs which must have been popular long before 1724, were collected by Ramsay; and, but for him, it is probable that these admirable specimens of the Native Song of Scotland would have been irretrievable. When, or by whom these were written, was not known even in 1724, from which a considerable antiquity may fairly be inferred; and it is to be presumed that the Airs were at least coeval with the Songs—For the satisfaction of the curious, all the Airs in this Work, which were considered to be old in 1724, are marked in the Index to each volume, as are those known to be modern. Those without any mark are presumed to be modern, though some of them may perhaps be old.

York-Place, Edinburgh, September 1803.

b. c1657, d. c1707

The younger son of John Playford and his only known surviving child. He was a music publisher and was in business with his father. Many of his publications were of a transient nature and were aimed at favourite songs and instrumental pieces for public entertainments, such as the pleasure garden concerts much in vogue.

He revised his father’s “The Dancing Master” and published D’Urfey’s “Wit and Mirth” and Purcell’s “Orpheus Britannicus”.

• A collection of original Scotch tunes

(full of the Highland humours) for the violin; being the 1^st of this kind yet printed: most of them being in the compass of the flute.

This is a MS. copy on nine pages (folio) by Mr. Wighton, from the only original copy known to exist, then in the possession of Mr. David Laing, Signet Library, Edinburgh.

• The 1^st book of Apollo’s banquet:

containing instructions, and variety of new tunes, ayres, jiggs, minuets and several new Scotch tunes, for the treble violin, to which is added the tunes of the newest French dances, now in use at Court and in the dancing schools.

The 7^th edn.,1693

• Apollo’s banquet:

containing instructions and variety of new tunes, ayres, jiggs, and several new Scotch tunes for the treble violin, to which is added the tunes of the newest French dances.

The 6^th edn.

The catalogue editor debates with himself precise authorship of this work:

b. Scotland 1711, d. Hertfordshire 1769

Scottish composer and music publisher. Using popular Scottish folktunes, he wrote variations of these for the fiddle and composed other original tunes in the same genre. He published much of his work anonymously or using the nom de plume “David Rizzio”. A “Collection of Minuets” was published in Edinburgh in 1736 and a “Curious Collection of Scots Tunes” in 1740.

In 1741 he left Edinburgh for London and Allan Ramsay lamented this fact in “An Epistle to James Oswald”. In London he eventually set up his own publishing house and published “The Caledonian Pocket Companion”, a collection of Scottish folktunes, some with his own variations. This ran to 15 volumes and many editions.

Like many others whose works feature in the Wighton Collection, he was a member of “The Temple of Apollo”, a secret musical society of composers in London (c.f. Earl of Kelly, John Reid, Charles Burney).

He was appointed chamber composer to George III in 1761. Much research still needs to be done to identify his compositions but he composed with style and talent in both Scottish and classical form, working within the range of his abilities.

Oswald’s “Airs” deserve particular mention. There were once thought to be 48 short trio sonata movements, in four groups of 12, each bearing the name of a flower, but the edition in the Wighton Collection contains two sets for each season. Also in the Wighton Collection is a MS for “Air for Autumn” in the composer’s own hand.

• A Collection of 43 Scots Tunes with Variations, particularly adapted for the violin and the harpsichord.
• The Caledonian Pocket Companion in 12 Books, containing all the favourite Scotch tunes with variations for the German flute or violin.
• Airs for Spring, Autumn, Summer and Winter, in 2 sets.
• The Air for Autumn.

MS. in the handwriting of the composer. Microfiche available

• A Collection of the Best Old Scotch and English Songs set for the voice with accompaniments and thorough bass for the harpsichord.
• A Collection of Curious Scots Tunes for a violin, German flute, or harpsichord.
• A Collection of Musick by several hands, both vocal and instrumental, most of which never before printed, and now published for the use of the Orpheus’s Clubs, by James Oswald, Dancing Master in Edinburgh.
• A Collection of Songs, as they are perform’d at the publick gardens, set to musick by James Oswald, corrected and approv’d, by the Society of the Temple of Apollo.
• A Second Collection of Curious Scots Tunes for a violin and German flute, with a thorough bass for the harpsichord.
• Collin’s Kisses, set by the late James Oswald Esqr., some time chamber composer to His Majesty, set for the violin, German-flute or harpsichord.
• A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes for a violin, bass viol. or German flute, with a thorough bass for the harpsichord, and also a sonata of Scots tunes in 3 parts and some masons’ songs with the words, for 3 voices, to which is added, a number of the most celebrated Scots tunes set for a violin or German flute.
• A Second Collection of Curious Scots Tunes for a violin and German flute, with a thorough bass for the harpsichord.
• A Favourite Collection of Scots Tunes and Highland Airs, for the violin or German flute, with a bass for the violoncello or harpsichord by W. McGibbon, J. Oswald and others.
• The Pocket Companion for the Guittar, containing a favourite collection of the best Italian, French, English and Scots songs, adapted for that instrument and the voice. (Unique).
• A Collection of Songs Set to Musick, beginning with “Beauty and Musick;” and ending with “Thy fatal shafts”. (Oswald and others).

b. Norwich, 1623 d. London, 1686

Music publisher and bookseller, clerk to the Temple Church and Vicar-Choral of St Paul’s Cathedral. In 1639 he was apprenticed for seven years to John Benson, a London publisher, and in 1647 became a member of the Yeomanry of the Stationers’ Company.

As a Royalist, Playford began publishing political tracts, culminating in “The Perfect Narrative of the Tryal of the King”. This was an age when music publishing was part of the more general field of book publishing, a situation changing by the time of his son Henry.

On 7^th November 1650 he entered in the stationers’ registers “The English Dancing Master or Plaine and Easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances’, which was published in 1651. It is generally thought that this was his first musical publication but “A Musical Banquet” bears the mark of John Benson as well as his own and so there is some speculation that it may have been earlier. “The English Dancing Master”, with enlarged editions, continued until 1728, each ‘new edition’ often differing little from its predecessor, although new lessons may have been added and some taken away.

The Wighton Collection contains editions published between 1675 (5^th ed.) and 1721 (17^th ed.), as well as copies of the second and third volumes of “The Dancing Master”.

In the Wighton Collection there is also a first edition of “Apollo’s Banquet”. The entry in the Wighton Database reads:

1^st edn Wants title page (p. 1) which has been substituted in MS by text from an advertisement in Playford’s “Musick's Hand-Maid”, pp. 2–4 in MS. The airs are numbered 1 to 222, with the following irregularities: nos. 168 & 185 are each used twice for 2 different airs; nos 5, 6, 32, 49, 130, 163 & 221 are omitted. Nos. 205 & 219 are the same air under the same name. Nos. 31 & 44 are the same air under different names, as are 99 & 106, 72 & 119, 23 & 57. Nos. 176 & 200 are variant sets of the same air. The 84 pages of music are unnumbered.

Microfiche available.

John Playford published hymns and psalms and we have records of his personal feelings and ideals in introductions to his works.

An enormously important figure in the development of English music publication and a source of inspiration for Cecil Sharp’s English folk revival.

There is no exact record of Playford’s burial but it is of interest that Purcell wrote the “Elegy on my friend, Mr John Playford”.

Editions in the Wighton Collection

• 1^st edn.

Wants title page (p. 1) which has been substituted in MS by text from an advertisement in Playford’s ‘Musick’s Hand-Maid”. pp. 2–4 in MS. The airs are numbered 1 to 222, with the following irregularities: nos. 168 & 185 are each used twice for 2 different airs; nos 5, 6, 32, 49, 130, 163 & 221 are omitted. Nos. 205 & 219 are the same air under the same name. Nos. 31 & 44 are the same air under different names, as are 99 & 106, 72 & 119, 23 & 57. Nos. 176 & 200 are variant sets of the same air. The 84 pages of music are unnumbered.

Microfiche available. (John Playford)

• Apollo’s Banquet:

Containing instructions and variety of new tunes, ayres, jiggs, and several new Scotch tunes for the treble violin, to which is added the tunes of the newest French dances.

6^th edn. 1690 (Henry Playford)

• The 1^st book of Apollo’s Banquet:

Containing instructions, and variety of new tunes, ayres, jiggs, minuets and several new Scotch tunes, for the treble violin, to which is added the tunes of the newest French dances, now in use at Court and in the dancing schools.

The 7^th edn 1693 (Henry Playford)

• Apollo’s Banquet. Select Tunes and Jiggs for the Treble-Violin

1^st edn.

Wants title page (p. 1) which has been substituted in MS by text from an advertisement in Playford’s “Musick’s Hand-Maid”. pp. 2–4 in MS.

The airs are numbered 1 to 222, with the following irregularities: nos. 168 & 185 are each used twice for 2 different airs; nos 5, 6, 32, 49, 130, 163 & 221 are omitted. Nos. 205 & 219 are the same air under the same name. Nos. 31 & 44 are the same air under different names, as are 99 & 106, 72 & 119, 23 & 57. Nos. 176 & 200 are variant sets of the same air. The 84 pages of music are unnumbered.

Microfiche available.

For notes on author attribution, see 6^th edn.

• Short Rules and Directions for Practitioners on the Treble Violin

This is the first edition of “Apollo’s Banquet” and catalogued elsewhere as such.

Conserved by Riley, Dunn and Wilson 1995.

Microfiche available.

• A brief introduction to the skill of musick for song and viol. in 2 books

First book contains the grounds and rules of musick for song. Second book. Directions for the playing on the viol de gambo, and also on the treble violin.

• The Musical Companion

Containing catches and rounds for 3 voyces, and dialogues, glees, ballads and ayres, in several varieties, some for 2, 3, 4 voyces.

In 2 parts. (wants title of 1^st part, and pp. 123–28, 150, 152 and 175–6 of 2^nd part).

• The Musical Companion

Containing catches and rounds for 3 voyces, and dialogues, glees, ayres and songs for 2, 3 and 4 voyces, in 2 books.

Microfiche available.

• Musick’s Hand-Maid

Lessons and instructions for the virginals or harpsichord.

• The Theater of Music

or, a choice collection of the newest and best songs sung at the Courts and public theatres, the words composed by the most ingenious wits of the age, and set to music by the masters in that science, with a theorbo-bass to each song for the theorbo, or bass-viol, also symphonies and retornels in 3 parts to several of them for the violins and flutes.

In 4 books.

Microfiche available.

• The Whole Book of Psalms

with the usual hymns and spiritual songs, together with all the ancient and proper tunes sung in churches, with some of later use, compos’d in 3 parts.

15^th edn.

Celebrated Scottish family of fiddlers.

Niel Gow b.1727, d.1807

Largely responsible for turning folk-fiddle playing into a professional art. He was famous both as a composer and performer. His playing was much admired by the aristocracy and he was much in demand for balls and dances. He passed all his life, however, in the village where he was born, Inver, in Perthshire, and published none of the fiddle music he played until 1784. In that year, appeared his first Collection of Strathspey Reels but although hugely successful, it is an amateurish publication, making no distinction between his own compositions and traditional tunes. Two further collections appeared in1788 and 1792. Niel Gow met Burns in 1787 and his portrait was painted four times by Raeburn.

Nathaniel Gow b.1766, d. 1831

Niel Gow’s most famous son. When still young, he went to Edinburgh and took violin, cello and trumpet lessons, being appointed one of His Majesty’s Trumpeters for Scotland. He became leader of a Scottish dance band, known as Alexander McGlashan’s band and played before royalty in London.

Unlike his father, Nathaniel was a business-man and published his own and his father’s compositions. The fees charged by his band were high but his financial success did not last, partly because of changing fashions in music, and he was declared bankrupt in 1827. Of Nathaniel Gow’s compositions, most famous are the airs, reels and strathspeys published in “Collections of Strathspey Reels” and between 1799 and 1817 he produced the “Complete Repository of the Original Scotch Slow Tunes”.

There are over twenty entries in the Wighton Database of collections of music by Niel and Nathaniel Gow.

b. c1684, d. c1760

Scottish singer and collector of folksongs, probably born in Edinburgh where his father was one of the king’s trumpeters for Scotland. Settled in London and in 1725 published “Orpheus Caledonius, or a Collection of the best Scotch Songs set to Music”. This was dedicated to the Princess of Wales, the dedication being changed in the 1733 edition once she became Queen Caroline. There was a subscription list of approximately 300 people, including dukes, earls, lords and ladies, a veritable Who’s Who of elegant society.One subscriber of this edition was The Right Hon. Lady Diana Spencer!

“Orpheus Caledonius” contained 50 Scottish folksongs, many having been taken from Allan Ramsay’s “Tea-Table Miscellany” (1723). The collection has been criticised by purists as textually crude and musically unsound but these criticisms detract from the critics rather than from this invaluable compilation.

In 1733 a second edition, in two volumes appeared, with 100 songs and improvements in the harmonisation of the original 50.

Virtually nothing is known of William Thomson in his latter years.

• Folio Edition of 1725 (rare)
• 1733 Edition. Two volumes bound together. Volume1 dedicated to the Queen, Volume 2 dedicated to the Duchess of Hamilton.

b. Milan 1749, d. Dublin 1816

Italian who settled in Edinburgh in 1784, after making appearances in Glasgow singing Scots songs. He published six volumes of Scots songs and included original songs of his own composition. He set up a music shop and publishing house with Edward Liston in Princes Street, Edinburgh. After losing much money as an impressario, he died in Dublin, penniless. Burns is known to have heard Urbani sing and although admiring his voice, he felt his arrangements of traditional Scots folksongs to be inappropriate.

Many of Urbani’s works appear to have been lost.

• A Collection of New Strathspey Reels. etc., with a bass for the violoncello or harpsichord, with additions, the bass’s corrected by P. Urbani.
• A Selection of Minuets, High Dances, Cottilions, Scots Airs, etc., adapted for the pianoforte or harpsichord.
• A Selection of Scots Songs, harmonized, improved with simple and adapted graces. Books 1–3
• A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs, for the voice, with introductory & concluding symphonies & accompaniments for the piano forte, violin & violoncello. Books 4–6
• A Favorite Selection of Scots Tunes by Urbani & Liston properly arranged as duettos for two German flutes or two violins by P. Urbani.

b.1713 d.1789

From about 1754, Bremner was in business as a music publisher in Edinburgh. Some of his first publications included Niccolo Pasquali’s “Thorough Bass Made Easy”, “The Rudiments of Music” commissioned as a preceptor for church choirs, and reprints of the fiddle music of William McGibbon.

The guitar was much in vogue at this period and Bremner published guitar arrangements of “Twelve Scots Tunes” and “Instructions for the Guitar”. He supplied music for the prestigious Edinburgh Musical Society and in 1761 published the Six Overtures op.1 of Lord Kelly.

In 1762 Bremner moved his business to London, although the Edinburgh establishment was retained. He continued to enjoy great success and, on his death, his business was bought by Preston & Son.

• A 2^nd set of Scots songs for a voice and harpsichord

1^st edn. (Another copy, later edition)

• A collection of Scots tunes for the violin or German flute, and a bass for the violoncello or harpsichord

by William McGibbon with some additions by Robert Bremner.

• A collection of airs and marches for two violins or German flutes

some of which have basses.

• Collection of Scots reels or country dances, with a bass for the violon-cello or harpsichord

(also, 2^nd collection. Nos. 13–14, with the dance figures in the English style ).

• Compleat instructions for the guitar

• Curious collection of Scots tunes with variations for the violin

with a bass for the violincello or harpsichord.

• Delightful pocket companion for the German flute

containing a choice collection of the most celebrated Italian, English and Scotch tunes, curiously adapted to that instrument, [incomplete]. 2^nd book.

• Harpsichord or Spinnet Miscellany

being a gradation of proper lessons from the beginner to the tollerable performer; with some rules for time by Robert Bremner. Book 1.

• Instructions for the guitar

with a collection of airs, songs, and duets.

• Rudiments of Music,or, A Short and Easy Treatise on that Subject

to which is added, a collection of the best church tunes, canons and anthems.

• Rudiments of Music, or, A Short and Easy Treatise on that Subject

with a collection of the best church tunes, canons and anthems. With instructions for song, and a plan for teaching a croud.

• The Vocal Harmonist's Magazine

being a collection of catches, glees, canons, and canzonets; selected from the best authors both ancient and modern.

No. 1.

• Thirty Scots songs for a voice and harpsichord

the music taken from the most genuine sets extant, the words from Allan Ramsay “Teatable Miscellany”. 1^st edn.

(Another copy, later edition)

• Twelve Scots songs for a voice or guitar

with a thorough bass, adapted for that instrument.

• Curious collection of Scots Tunes

with variations for the violin, and a bass for the violoncello, or harpsichord. (A reprint of Robert Bremner's publication "Curious Collection of Scots Tunes". Edinburgh, 1759).

• A Collection of Scots Tunes

by William McGibbon

some with variations for a violin, hautboy, or German flute, with a bass for a violoncello or harpsichord.

• A Collection of Scots Tunes for the violin or German flute

by William McGibbon

and a bass for the violoncello or harpsichord, with some additions by Robert Bremner.