Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book 10

Tenth of twelve pocket tune books that James Oswald issued in London over roughly fifteen years, printed for the author and notated as melody lines for German flute or violin. Like the rest of the series it went to press undated, and estimates for this book fall between 1758 and 1760. The collection draws on both Lowland and Highland Scottish material and on London theatre and pleasure garden music. Some items are composed by Oswald himself, but he identified no sources for any of the tunes, so a first appearance here fixes a date of print rather than a composer. Book 10 carries the earliest known printing of the jig now generally called Haste to the Wedding, on page 8 (or p. 94 for Vol 2 printing) under the title The Small Pin Cushion.

Series context: 12 books issued separately c. 1745–1760, around 550 tunes with extensive variations, later bound as two volumes of six books each. The last year of the publication run is disputed. The books were reissued in London by Straight & Skillern after Oswald’s death, and Robert Bremner brought out a two-volume edition with continuous pagination in each volume. Book 10 begins at Vol. II pp. 87-110.

Note: Dates for book 10 vary by source, c. 1758-1760. Copy consulted: two-volume collected issue, Vol. 2 (original Books 7–12, continuous pagination 1–162). Title page absent from the scanned segment; “Volume X” supplied in manuscript at the head of the Book 10 sequence.