Glen Collection of printed music > Printed music > Characteristic songs and dances of all nations

NOTES ON NATIONAL MUSIC.
267
of Scotland, speak of every phase of Gaelic and modern Scottish life." That a comparatively small
and poor country like Scotland could support and encourage the publication of such large and
expensive collections as those of Johnson, Thomson, Urbani, Smith, Dun, and Graham, not to
speak of many others, all closely following each other, is eloquent proof of the love which the Scot
has for his national music, and a practical and most convincing proof of his good taste.
The list given below only represents a few of the more important and trustworthy collections.
A complete list of song and dance collections would fill many pages.
Playford. A Collection of Original Scotch Tunes (full of
the Highland humours) for the Violin, being the first of
this kind yet printed. London, 1700. Second edition,
1701-
Thomson (William). Orpheus Caledonius, or a collection
of the best Scotch songs set to musick. London, 1725.
Second edition, 1733. 2 vols.
Ramsay (Allan). Musick for Allan Ramsay's Collection
of Scots Songs. Edinburgh, 1726. Vol. i. all pub-
lished.
Craig (Adam). A Collection of the Choicest Scots Tunes.
Edinburgh, 1730.
Walsh. A Collection of Original Scotch Songs. London
(174°).
Oswald (James). Caledonian Pocket Companion. London
(1742-64). 12 vols.
M'Gibbon (William). Scots Tunes. Edinburgh, 1742-55.
3 vols.
Barsanti (Francis). Collection of Old Scots Tunes.
Edinburgh, 1742.
Bremner (Robert). Scots Songs. Edinburgh (1757). 2
vols. Also London, 1762-65.
Johnson (James). Scots Musical Museum. Edinburgh,
1787-1803. 6 vols. New edition, 1839.
Corri (Domenico). New and Complete Collection of the
most Favourite Scots Songs. Edinburgh (1788). 2 vols.
Napier (William). Selection of the most Favourite Scots
Songs, chiefly pastoral. London, 1790.
Thomson (George). A Select Collection of Original Scot-
tish Airs. London (1793-1841). 6 vols.
Urbani (Peter). A Selection of Scots Songs. Edinburgh,
1794-99. 3 vols -
Fraser (Simon). Airs and Melodies peculiar to the High-
lands of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1816. Other editions,
1874 and 1884.
Campbell (Alexander). Albyn's Anthology. Edinburgh,
1816-18. 2 vols.
Smith (R. A.). Scotish Minstrel. Edinburgh (1822-24).
6 vols.
Dun (Finlay) and John Thomson. Vocal Melodies of Scot-
land. Edinburgh (1837, etc. ). 4 vols.
Wilson (John). Songs of Scotland. London, 1842. 3
books.
Graham (G. F.). Songs of Scotland. Edinburgh (1848-49).
3 vols. [New edition, revised by J. Muir Wood, 1884.
Now the property of Messrs. Bayley & Ferguson. ]
Moffat (Alfred). The Minstrelsy of Scotland. London,
1894.
IRELAND.
Like the Scots, Welsh, and all Celtic nations, the Irish are intensely fond of their beautiful
national melodies, which are to them the chief medium for the expression of every phase of hope,
sorrow, joy, or aspiration. The song, as a vehicle for the registration and expression of national
sentiment, has been to the Irish more than art or any form of literature. The most ignorant peasant
can appreciate the beauty of "The Last Rose of Summer" or " The Coolun," the bitterness of " The
Wearing of the Green," or the gaiety of " St. Patrick's Day," when the literary side of the songs would
appeal to him in vain. The Irish have not been so fortunate as other nations in their collectors and
editors of folk music, and it is somewhat remarkable that the first really satisfactory edition of the
best Irish songs should be of quite recent origin. Many of the finest Irish melodies suffer from their
association with words of low literary merit, which renders them uninteresting and causes them to
fall into neglect. The comparatively few Irish songs which the verses of Moore have rendered
famous are by no means the finest specimens.
Thumoth (Burk). Twelve English and Twelve Irish Airs
(1745)-
Twelve Scotch and Twelve Irish Airs.
Jackson's Celebrated Irish Tunes. (1775. )
Walker (J. C. ). Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards.
Dublin, 1786 ; also, 1818. 2 vols.
Brysson. Curious Selection of Fifty Irish Airs.
1791.
Bunting (Edward). A General Collection of the Ancient
Irish Music. London, 1796. Another edition, London,
1809. Also, Dublin, 1840.
O'Farrell. National Irish Music for the Union Piper,
i797-r8oo.
Mulhollan (J. M.). Irish and Scots Tunes. 1804,
O'Farrell. Pocket Companion for the Irish Piper. 1805.
Owenson (Sydney), Lady Morgan. Twelve Original
Hibernian Melodies. 1805.
Holden (S. ). Collection of old-established Irish Slow and
Quick Tunes. Dublin (1806). 2 vols.
Moore (Thomas). Irish Melodies. 1807-34. Numerous
editions, by Balfe, Stanford, etc.
CROSBY. Irish Musical Repository. 1808.
Murphy (John). Irish Airs and Jiggs. 1809.
Holden (S.). Periodical Irish Melodies. 1810
Mulholland (John). Collection of Ancient Irish Airs.
Belfast, 1810
Hime. Selection of the most admired original Irish Airs.
(1810.)