Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Hamilton's universal tune-book

TO THE PURCHASERS
CF
HAMILTON'S UNIVERSAL TUNE-BOOK.
The habit of talking over our success, prospects, and intentions, with onr friends, has so many
pleasing associations connected with it, that we cannot allow the opportunity afforded by the completion
of the First Volume of the Universal Tcne-Book to pass without saying a few words to those who are
subscribers to the work.
There are several features new and peculiar to the Universal Tune-Book; but that which chiefly
distinguishes it from the innumerable collections which have been made from the time of the "Aberdeen
Cantus," and " Play ford's Dancing Blaster," to the present time, is its wonderful cheapness, and the care
which has been exercised in its production, both as regards the selecting always the best sets of the
melodies, and watching that they should be correctly printed.
Hitherto in sucli collections of music as have been available to the industrious classes, it has been the
custom to publish books of airs without the names of the composers, until il has now become unfortu-
nately impossible to trace the history of by far the greatest number of the popular melodies. In the
Universal Tune-Book we have invariably placed the composer's nam^, <>r the country to which it
properly belonged, to the tune, when it could be ascertained.
We have also introduced the name or first line of the most popular song wliich is sung to the air, by
which means the work gains additional value, as those who are in possession of books of songs
unaccompanied with music, have here what they require — a companion book containing music for the
oldest and many of the newest songs.
In several instances where the composer's name, or the country to which an air belonged, has been
accidentally omitted in the body of the work, or has been ascertained since it was printed, it has been
given in the index, and in cases where we had any further particulars to add regarding any air,
such as the time when it was published, or in what collection it appears for the first time, or the like,
and which was too long to be introduced between the staffs of music, these memoranda have been
appended in the form of notes to the Index.
Such are the more marked novelties of our Tune-book when compared with other cheap collections.
As it is our wish to make the Universal Tune-Book acomplete repository of all the popular English,
Irish, and Scottish melodies, we would here remark that our friends would render us an important ser-
vice if they would note down and transmit to us any airs, or fragments of airs, which are common to the
particular district in which they are located. Hundreds of such are still to be collected, and in the
places where these unwritten tunes do most abound their very number and commonness is the chief
reason why they are still unpublished. Some persons who read this will probably say, "why these are
so common that they must be known all over the country ." but it is not so; many are common to the