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Roderick D. Cannon's A Bibliography of Bagpipe Music Published
by (Out
of Print)
Index Home ~ Introduction ~ Arrangement of Material Union Pipes ~ Northumbrian Pipes ~ Scots Highland Pipes ~ Irish Warpipes and Brien Boru Pipes |
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Until his recent retirement Dr
Roderick Cannon (BSc, DPhil, DSc) was a Reader in
Chemistry at the University of East Anglia, Norwich and has written many books
on the subject. He is also a piper and has spent many thousands of hours
researching and writing a number of books about the history of bagpipes and its
music.
One of the more notable is A Bibliography of Bagpipe
Music which he started researching in 1961 and over the next thirteen years
visited many libraries and private collections in United Kingdom, Republic of
Ireland, Poland and the United States of America.
John Donald Publishers Ltd published the book in 1980 and it
immediately became recognised amongst collectors as their ‘Bible’; at last they
had detailed knowledge of what was out there. The accuracy of the information
in this book is a credit to the author. Even now with the advantage of
hindsight there are few errors. The biggest problem for Cannon was locating all
editions of all books and even now over thirty years later there are still many
to be found.
The writer’s collecting spans more than 40 years but it was
in the late 1980s that it became a serious pursuit. Two significant incidents
occurred that changed collecting from a mere hobby and transformed it to
something akin to the ‘thrill of the chase’. The first was in 1993 when the Bibliography
was purchased and the second was in 1997 when a modem was smuggled into the
house and connected to the Internet.
The Internet is a vast resource. Many books in the writer’s
collection have been located on various websites worldwide. There is also a
huge amount of information that steers the researcher along the correct path.
Scams and fraudulent operators do exist on the web but with a little due
diligence it is possible to sort these out. In all the writer’s dealings he has
only been caught out once and that is because he did not read the description
properly.
The Bibliography was such a mine of useful
information that it was read from cover-to-cover three times during the first
the month after purchase. It made the writer aware his collecting was in its
infancy and there were many dozens of books yet to be acquired. However, the
most important aspect of its publication was that it enabled many collectors
worldwide to determine they had editions of books Cannon did not locate during
his research.
During his research Cannon was aware of many gaps and they
are spelt out throughout the Bibliography. Since its publication many
people have made previously unknown editions available to him for further
research and the results have been published in piping magazines and on the
Internet. These will be listed throughout this update.
The writer first met Cannon at Aviemore
at the Northern Meeting in 2006 and it was there over a beer and a whisky that
the offer was made to write this update. Once back in New Zealand with the
euphoria of the occasion worn off the writer realised the monster he had taken
on.
Simplistically, there are two parts to this project.
Firstly, to describe newly discovered books published prior to 1974 (the date
when Cannon completed his research) that were not recorded in the Bibliography.
The second is to make a comprehensive list of all those books published since
that research was completed.
It might be imagined that this is a relatively simple task
but be assured it is not. A bibliographer can only write about books that he or
she actually locates and we can make assumptions or educated guesses in some
cases but until the original book is located we will never be sure. The network
of collectors world wide is
huge and slowly we are getting the full picture.
By far the majority of books published emanate from
Scotland, Ireland and England but since the availability of the personal
computer there has been a veritable deluge of new books. Anywhere in the world
where the bagpipes are played there are people who have produced books. The
writer has books from New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa, India,
France and Germany. No doubt there are others.
When Cannon researched the Bibliography he had very
clear objectives and these are summed up in the first paragraph of his original
Preface:
This is a descriptive bibliography of bagpipe music. My aim in compiling it has been to identify and locate all the music printed for each type of bagpipe played in the British Isles, to distinguish the various editions of each book, to ascertain dates and authorship, and to collect together any background information which might be of interest either to players or to music historians.
There is little doubt that he has achieved his aim and
pipers have used this book to identify music resources, and their whereabouts,
in order to increase their repertoire. Moreover, the number of times the Bibliography
is quoted in learned research indicates its value to those people involved in
more academic pursuits.
The major difference between Cannon’s Bibliography
and this update is that it will not be produced in book form. The time may come
when this may happen but that will be when we have a complete picture. In the mean time it will be published in this website.
Users will be encouraged to assist by providing additional
information they may have; the website will be updated accordingly. With the
international interest in this project it is believed that we will come fairly
close to getting a complete picture of the publication histories of all the
books.
The format used in the Bibliography lists the books
for the Union Pipes, Northumbrian bagpipes, Scots Highland pipes and the Irish Warpipes and Brien Boru Pipes in
separate chapters. Within these chapters all known books are listed in
chronological date order with the oldest known first.
Each book, or series of books, are identified by a three
figured number starting at 101 for the Union Pipes, 201 for the Northumbrian,
301 Scots Highland Bagpipe and 501 for the Irish War and Brien Boru pipes. For example, William Gunn’s Caledonian
Repository and all the different editions are no 311. Likewise, David
Glen’s 17 Part Collection are all listed under no 316.
It will be noted that Cannon has left only 200 numbers for
the Highland Bagpipe (301-500). In the mid 1970s it
was impossible to foresee the huge number of new books that were about to be
published. When the number passes 500, the numbers 501-600 will be retained for
the Irish War and Brien Boru pipes and the numbers
601 and on will be used for Highland bagpipes. Since the Bibliography
was published an old bagpipe has been resurrected. The cauld
wind pipes are now flourishing and a series of books of music have been
published. These will be included in this update.
Along side each of the identifying
numbers is the name of the compiler and the date when it was first published.
Below this is the edition number accompanied by a detailed description of the
title-page, a coded list of the pages that make up the book, where this
particular edition can be located and other supporting information.
Cannon’s basic format will be retained. (It is advised to
read the page ‘Arrangement of Material’ as this gives a full description of
what he was trying to accomplish.) If the original of any particular edition is
available then the written description of the title-page will be replaced by a
scanned image. All the comments from the original Bibliography will be
retained, providing they are still relevant.
Cannon’s original comments will be in black font and any
additional notes will be in dark blue. In most cases the edition numbers identified
by Cannon have been retained but occasionally these will change as a result of
finding hitherto unknown editions. One such book is 311 Caledonian
Repository of Music adapted for the Bagpipes by William Gunn.
In the original Bibliography symbols were used to
identify the various libraries but in this update the library details will be
given in full.
Throughout the use of the word ‘copy’ when referring to a
book will be limited. In days before the photocopier one could say they had a
‘copy of a book’ and this was synonymous with having an original. Nowadays to
use the word ‘copy’ could easily be construed by the reader as meaning a
photocopy. Therefore, whenever there is doubt the text will specify an original
or a photocopy.
It is obvious that as new information comes in the pages on
the website will need to be updated and this will be done. However, if people
use this information as intended and it is quoted in any document then it is
important that at a later date anyone is able to identify which edition of a
particular page is being quoted. Therefore at the bottom of each page will be
something like ‘Rev 00, 28 August 2008’. The revision number will change as
each page is revised and the date will be when it was published on the website.
Each revision will remain on the website for future reference.
The reader is encouraged to contact the writer (email
address below) with any additional information that can help clarify or add to
this update. Full credit will be given to any person who provides this
information.
The writer would like to take the opportunity to thank a
number of people for their assistance in preparing this update. Firstly, Roderick Cannon, without whose help and assistance this
project would not have even been started. Allan
Cameron of Auckland for his patronage 15 years ago when editor of the New
Zealand Pipe Band magazine got the writer started. Also for his
tolerance for receiving phone calls just to be used as a ‘sounding board’. To
Jeannie Campbell of the College of Piping Museum, Glasgow for her assistance in
providing photocopies of various material. Vicki and Renny McLeod of Unicorn Ltd of Alabama, USA for supplying
books to supplement the writer’s collection. Allan
Speedy of Auckland who is a genius and the webmaster for this project.
To Iain Millington, a fellow collector and bibliophile in Nova Scotia as a
source of knowledge on many Canadian and United States publications. Also a supplier of many of these books. John Recknagel of Georgia, USA for help in locating obscure
books.
Geoff Hore
5 Graham Street
One Tree Point
Ruakaka 0118
New Zealand
28 August 2008
geoff.hore@xtra.co.nz
*****
Webmaster:
Allan LT Speedy
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