Thanks to the kindness of a friend of a friend, I received books 3 and 4 of the Nelson’s Scots Song Book through the post today. Well, what else could I do but take a photo of them?! I’ve longed for ages to have the complete set, and now I do.
I have already learned something new. The first two books had little black-and-white line drawings wherever there was a blank bit of page, and apparently the pupils loved these. And then …
I think there was a bit of cost-cutting going on! But I don’t recall any correspondence with the editors James Easson and Herbert Wiseman to advise them of this. I’ll need to go back through my notes!
- Book 1 – published 1948; reprinted until at least 1960.
- Book 2 – 1950; reprinted until at least 1964.
- Book 3 – 1952. I don’t currently know if it was reprinted!
- Book 4 – January 1955; reprinted at least in 1956. (The teacher’s book came out in 1954)
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 