I offer a selection of new and secondhand books.
Please get in touch if you want more information, or recommendations for reading.
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Send an email to shop@simonchadwick.net, or phone or text me, telling me what you would like.
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The following titles are currently in stock; others may also be available.
| Author, title | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Heymann, Secrets of the Gaelic Harp | Secondhand paperback, spiral bound. The first and most groundbreaking method book for traditional wire-strung Irish harp. Published 1988. | £100 |
| Ann Heymann, A Gaelic Harper’s First Tunes | Secondhand paperback, spiral bound. Slimmer and improved version of Secrets, published 1998. | £50 |
| Barry Cunliffe, The Celts – a very short introduction | 2003 paperback | £8 |
| Breandán Ó Madagáin, Caointe agus seancheolte eile / keening and other old Irish musics | Paperback with CD | £19 |
| Charlotte Milligan Fox, Annals of the Irish Harpers | 1917 John Murray hardback reprint of 1911 original. Includes Arthur O’Neill’s Memoirs, extracts from Edward Bunting’s correspondence, and illustrations. | £150 |
| Colm Ó Baoill, Bàrdachd Shìlis na Ceapaich, poems and songs by Sìleas McDonald | 1972 hardback. Scholarly edition of the poems, with translations, commentary and music notation of traditional tunes for many of the songs. | £23 |
| Daniel Tokar and Ann Heymann, Dialogue on historical wire for Gaelic harps | 2011 paperback. Experiments with different historical hand-made wire samples used as harp strings. | £13 |
| David Johnson, Scottish fiddle music in the eighteenth century | 2005 edition. Includes historical commentary and editions of music | £25 |
| Denis Rixson, The West Highland Galley | paperback, history of boats | £5 |
| Edward Bunting, A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music… [1797] | 1996 Linen Hall Library limited edition paperback facsimile of 1797 original | £70 |
| Edward Bunting, General Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland [1809] | 1809 first edition in original printed boards | £350 |
| Edward Bunting, General Collection of The Ancient Music of Ireland [1809] | 2012 hardback reprint of 1811 reprint of 1809 edition, published by the Linen Hall Library | £70 |
| Edward Bunting, The Ancient Music of Ireland [1840] | 1840 first edition. The gilded harp on the covers has strings, which I think means this is the second issue. | £350 |
| Donal O’Sullivan with Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Bunting’s Ancient Music of Ireland edited from the original manuscripts | 1983 hardback. Editions of each tune from Bunting’s 1840 book, from the manuscript sources, with commentary and song lyrics and translations. | £120 |
| Gerald of Wales, The History and Topography of Ireland | Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis | £10 |
| Gerald of Wales, The Journey through Wales and the Description of Wales | Penguin paperback translation of Giraldus Cambrensis | £11 |
| Helen Lawlor, Irish harping 1900-2010 | 2012 hardback. A history of the lever harp scene through the 20th century. | £35 |
| Hélène Witcher, Madame Scotia, Madam Scrap. The story of Héloïse Russell-Fergusson 1896-1970 | 2017 paperback. Biography of this important Scottish harpist. | £12 |
| Hugh Cheape, Bagpipes – a national collection of a national instrument | includes CD-ROM. An excellent overview of the different types of pipes historically used in Scotland, based on the National Museum collections. | £16 |
| Huw Roberts & Llio Rhydderch, Telynorion Llannerch-y-Medd / The harpers of Llannerch-y-Medd | 2000 paperback edition, bilingual in English and Welsh. 19th and early 20th century Welsh harp traditions. (CD missing) | £35 |
| Joan Rimmer, The Irish Harp – Cláirseach na hÉireann | 1969 first edition of this important though slim historical overview | £35 |
| John Purser, Scotland’s Music | 1992 hardback first edition, also 2007 hardback second edition. A huge and detailed summary of all aspects of music in Scotland from earliest times to the late 20th century. | £100 |
| John Scully, Ah! How d’you do! Sir! | 2024 local biography of Patrick Byrne (1790s – 1863) | £25 |
| Johnson & Boswell, A tour to the Hebrides | Old Oxford University Press blue hardback of this important early travel book | £15 |
| Linda Gowans, Am Bròn Binn | Scholarly analysis of Scottish Gaelic ballad song | £15 |
| Martha Goodway & Jay Scott Odell, The Historical Harpsichord volume two: The metallurgy of 17th and 18th century music wire | Technical study of old strings | £33 |
| Mike Parker, Child of Pure Harmony – a source book for the single-action harp | 2005 paperback. A digest of early 19th century harp methods | £14 |
| Nancy Hurrell, The Egan Irish harps | 2019 hardback, all about John Egan the early 19th century Dublin harpmaker. | £43 |
| Osian Ellis, Hanes y Delyn yng Nghymru / The Story of the Harp in Wales | 1980 paperback first edition | £25 |
| Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, A Hidden Ulster | 2021 paperback corrected reprint. An essential guide to the song traditions of south-east Ulster, with texts, translations, scores, photographs of singers, biographies, and more. | £30 |
| Peter Downey, Edward Bunting and the Ancient Irish Music: The Publication History of A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music… | Scholarly study of the publication of Bunting’s 1797 book | £16 |
| Rauno Nieminen, Jouhikko – The Bowed Lyre | Includes audio CD. The complete practical guide to this Scandinavian bowed instrument. | £44 |
| Robert Bruce Armstrong, The Irish and Highland Harps | 1969 Praeger hardback facsimile of 1904 original. Includes fold-out plates. A hugely important technical study of many of the surviving historical harps, with detailed illustrations and measurements. | £150 |
| Roderick Cannon (ed.), Joseph MacDonald’s Compleat Theory of the Scots Highland Bagpipe (c.1760) | Large-format paperback. 1994 edition of the original manuscript (2010 reprint). An important 18th century theoretical treatise on Gaelic music. | £35 |
| Ronn McFarlane, Highland King | transcriptions of 17th century Scottish lute music | £14 |
| Roy Johnston, Bunting’s Messiah | Musical biography of Edward Bunting detailing his diverse musical activities | £10 |
| Sally Harper, Music in Welsh Culture before 1650: A study of the principal sources | 2007 hardback. A historical overview of medieval Welsh music with a lot of detail | £110 |
| Séamus Ó Brógáin, The Wolfhound guide to the Irish harp emblem | Slim paperback, all about how the Irish harp has been used as a symbol | £10 |
| Simon Chadwick, Progressive Lessons | Sources for learning old Irish harp, includes CD | £20 |
| Somhairle Mac Ghill Eathain (Sorley MacLean), Dain do Eimhir agus Dain Eile | 1943 hardback first edition, ex-library. Modernist Scottish Gaelic poems with illustrations | £150 |
| Sylvia Crawford, An Introduction to Old Irish Harp Playing Technique | 2021 large format paperback | £20 |
| Tomás Ó Canainn, Traditional music in Ireland | 1993 paperback reprint of very important 1978 overview text. | £10 |
| William Donaldson, The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society 1750-1950 | Paperback. Excellent social history of music in Scotland. | £30 |
| William Matheson, The Blind Harper (an Clarsair Dall). The songs of Roderick Morison and his music | 1970 hardback. Scholarly edition of the poems, with translations, notations of traditional airs to many of the songs, biography, commentary. | £23 |
| Early Music 36/4 November 2008 | Includes Simon Chadwick, The early Irish harp | £10 |
| Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 42, Winter 2001 | Includes Sally Harper, So how many Irishmen went to Glyn Achlach? Early accounts of the formation of Cerdd Dant. The traditionary story of how the Welsh music was codified at Glendalough c.1100AD. | £5 |
| Singing the Reformation | Edinburgh University exhibition brochure, 2011, about the Wode Partbooks | £4 |
| Irish Musical Studies 10: Music, Ireland and the Seventeenth Century | 2009 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. | £50 |
| Hands – Harp Making DVD | DVD film by David Shaw-Smith, about harpmaker Peter Kilroy | £20 |
| Strangers to Citizens: The Irish in Europe 1600-1800 | National Library of Ireland exhibition pamphlet | £5 |
Last updated Sep 2025