Manuscripts and early publications
For anyone trying to gain a deeper understanding of the music and repertoire of Lowland and Border piping nothing is more valuable than to be able to go back to the sources In the past these were buried in obscure or remote libraries and available only to the determined few. Today, however, large numbers of these invaluable resources are available online. The list here is made of the most important; within these sources you will find the earliest appearances of the core items of the repertoire.
One of the bagpipe settings included in George Skene's Music Book, 1717. The oldest known notated bagpipe music from Scotland
The Henry Atkinson manuscript, dated 1694/5. The book is one of the earliest fiddler's manuscripts to have survived, and certainly the oldest from North East England.
The Rook Manuscript
Upwards of 1269 Airs Selected By John Rook
Compiled in 1840
The 12 books of James Oswald's collection c. 1750 onwards