Early printed Scottish music now online

The National Library for Scotland's digital collections now contain around 200 volumes from the Glen and Inglis Collections, internationally renowned special collections of printed music.

These archives feature Scottish printed music from the 18th and 19th centuries, including early Scottish songs, and include major Scottish music publications from this period, which can be used to trace the history of tunes and songs.   

The Glen Collection has Scottish songs and music of the 18th-early 19th centuries, including music for the Highland bagpipe; the Inglis Collection includes volumes containing Scottish and English songs, military music and keyboard music.

A good example is Auld Lang Syne, which was first published by Henry Playford in 1700 and was very popular for many decades. 

The tune now sung all over the world was introduced by Robert Burns in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum 1792.