Books

I offer a selection of new and secondhand books.

Recommended: Sylvia Crawford, An Introduction to Old Irish Harp Playing Techniques

Please get in touch if you want more information, or recommendations for reading.

How to order:

Send an email to shop@simonchadwick.net, or phone or text me, telling me what you would like.

Please note: postage is charged extra. Click here for payment information.

If you are not sure what you need, still get in touch and ask me. There is no commitment to place an order; just call or email and see if the price and description is really what you are after. I am happy to recommend other sellers who might have what you need.

The following titles are currently in stock; others may also be available.

AuthorTitlePrice
Ann HeymannA Gaelic Harper’s First Tunes£50Secondhand paperback
Barry CunliffeThe Celts – a very short introduction£82003 paperback
Breandán Ó MadagáinCaointe agus seancheolte eile / keening and other old Irish musics£19Paperback with CD
Charlotte Milligan FoxAnnals of the Irish Harpers£1501917 John Murray hardback reprint of 1911 original. Includes Arthur O’Neill’s Memoirs, extracts from Edward Bunting’s correspondence, and illustrations.
Colm Ó BaoillBàrdachd Shìlis na Ceapaich, poems and songs by Sìleas McDonald£231972 hardback
Daniel Tokar and Ann HeymannDialogue on historical wire for Gaelic harps£132011 paperback
David JohnsonScottish fiddle music in the eighteenth century£252005 edition. Includes historical commentary and editions of music
Denis RixsonThe West Highland Galley£5paperback, history of boats
Donal O’Sullivan with Mícheál Ó SúilleabháinBunting’s Ancient Music of Ireland edited from the original manuscripts£1201983 hardback. Editions of tunes with commentary
Edward BuntingThe Ancient Music of Ireland£3501840 first edition
Edward BuntingGeneral Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland£702012 hardback reprint of 1811 reprint of 1809 edition, published by the Linen hall Library
Edward BuntingA General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music…£701996 Linen Hall Library limited edition paperback facsimile of 1797 original
Edward BuntingGeneral Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland£3501809 first edition in original printed boards
Gerald of WalesThe History and Topography of Ireland£10Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of WalesThe Journey through Wales and the Description of Wales£11Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis
Helen LawlorIrish harping 1900-2010£352012 hardback.
Hélène WitcherMadame Scotia, Madam Scrap. The story of Héloïse Russell-Fergusson 1896-1970£122017 paperback
Hugh CheapeBagpipes – a national collection of a national instrument£16includes CD-ROM
Huw Roberts & Llio RhydderchTelynorion Llannerch-y-Medd / The harpers of Llannerch-y-Medd£352000 paperback edition, bilingual in English and Welsh. 19th and early 20th century Welsh harp traditions.
Joan RimmerThe Irish Harp – Cláirseach na hÉireann£35I usually have various editions available
John PurserScotland’s Music£1001992 hardback first edition, also 2007 hardback second edition
John ScullyAh! How d’you do! Sir!£252024 local biography of Patrick Byrne (1790s – 1863)
Johnson & BoswellA tour to the Hebrides£15Old Oxford University Press blue hardback of R.W. Chapman’s editions of both texts. Includes map
Linda GowansAm Bròn Binn£15Scholarly analysis of Scottish Gaelic ballad song
Mark EveristThe Cambridge Companion to Medieval Music£222011 paperback
Martha Goodway & Jay Scott OdellThe Historical Harpsichord volume two: The metallurgy of 17th and 18th century music wire£33Technical study of old strings
Mike ParkerChild of Pure Harmony – a source book for the single-action harp£142005 paperback. A digest of early 19th century harp methods
Nancy HurrellThe Egan Irish harps£432019 hardback
Nicholas CarolanJohn & William Neal, A Collection of the most celebrated Irish tunes proper for the violin, German flute or hautboy, Dublin 1724£402010 hardback edition, complete facsimile with detailed introduction, notes and commentary.
Osian EllisHanes y Delyn yng Nghymru / The Story of the Harp in Wales£251980 paperback first edition
Paddy TunneyThe Stone Fiddle£30s/h paperback
Paddy TunneyWhere Songs do Thunder£30s/h paperback
Pádraigín Ní UallacháinA Hidden Ulster£302021 paperback corrected reprint
Patrick McDonaldThe Patrick McDonald Collection: Highland vocal airs, Country dances or Reels of the north Highlands and Western Isles (first published 1784)£192000 paperback edition from Taigh na Teud
Peter DowneyEdward Bunting and the Ancient Irish Music: The Publication History of A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music… Adapted for Piano-Forte (London, Preston & Son)£16Scholarly study of the publication of Bunting’s 1797 book
Rauno NieminenJouhikko – The Bowed Lyre£44Includes audio CD. The complete practical guide to this Scandinavian bowed instrument.
Robert Bruce ArmstrongThe Irish and Highland Harps£1501969 Praeger hardback facsimile of 1904 original. Includes fold-out plates
Roderick Cannon (ed.)Joseph MacDonald’s Compleat Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe (c.1760)£35Large-format paperback. 1994 edition of the original manuscript (2010 reprint)
Ronn McFarlaneHighland King£14Transcriptions of Scottish lute music
Roy JohnstonBunting’s Messiah£10Musical biography of Edward Bunting detailing his diverse musical activities
Sally HarperMusic in Welsh Culture before 1650: A study of the principal sources£1102007 hardback
Sandra Joyce & Helen LawlorHarp Studies£402016 hardback. Includes Paul Dooley The Harp in the time of Giraldus, and Ann Heymann three iconic Gaelic harp pieces
Séamus Ó BrógáinThe Wolfhound guide to the Irish harp emblem£10Slim paperback
Simon ChadwickProgressive Lessons£20Sources for learning old Irish harp, includes CD
Simon FraserThe Airs and Melodies peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles£14Spiral bound facsimile of 1874 piano collection
Somhairle Mac Ghill Eathain (Sorley MacLean)Dain do Eimhir agus Dain Eile£1501943 hardback first edition, ex-library. Modernist Scottish Gaelic poems with illustrations by William Crosbie
Sylvia CrawfordAn Introduction to Old Irish Harp Playing Technique£202021 large format paperback
Thomas Forest KellyEarly Music, a very short introduction£8Paperback
Tomás Ó CanainnTraditional music in Ireland£101993 paperback reprint of very important 1978 overview text.
William DonaldsonThe Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950£30Paperback. Excellent social history of music in Scotland.
William MathesonThe Blind Harper (an Clarsair Dall). The songs of Roderick Morison and his music£231970 hardback
Early Music 36/4 November 2008£10Includes Simon Chadwick, The early Irish harp
Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 42, Winter 2001£5Includes Sally Harper, So how many Irishmen went to Glyn Achlach? Early accounts of the formation of Cerdd Dant
Singing the Reformation£4Edinburgh University exhibition brochure, 2011, about the Wode Partbooks
Irish Musical Studies 10: Music, Ireland and the Seventeenth Century£502009 hardback. Includes Adrian Scahill, Irish traditional music in the seventeenth century, and John Cunningham, the Irish harp in non-Irish contexts in the 17th century.
Hands – Harp Making DVD£20DVD film by David Shaw-Smith, about harpmaker Peter Kilroy
Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600-1800£5National Library of Ireland exhibition pamphlet

Last updated Apr 2024