William Dixon manuscript

The William Dixon manuscript, written down between 1733 and 1738 in Northumberland, is the oldest known manuscript of pipe music from the British Isles, and the most important source of music for the Border pipes. It is currently located in the A.K. Bell Library, Perth, Scotland. Little is known of William Dixon's biography, except what has been learned from this manuscript, and from parish records in Northumberland.

The only direct evidence for the author's identity comes from the manuscript itself, giving his name and two others, Parcival and John, who may have been his sons. It also gives dates from 1733 to 1738. Many of the tunes in the manuscript were, and some remain, current in Northumberland, or are named after places in the region. Baptismal records for that county show that a William Dixson was christened in Stamfordham, Northumberland, in 1678, and that Parsivall and John, sons of William Dixson, were baptised nearby at Fenwick, near Stamfordham, in 1708 and 1710. Julia Say has found that these belonged to a branch of the Dixon family living at Ingoe South Hall, near Fenwick, where some of the family lived until recently. The tracing of this family is made easier by their tradition of using the names William and Parcival in many generations, especially as Parcival is so rare; on the other hand, the shared names make identification of individuals harder. Many of the family were buried in Stamfordham church where there is a fine memorial to them. It is recorded that Parcival was apprenticed as a scrivener; this suggests that some of the inscriptions in the book, in an ornate hand, but different styles, are his work. However it is clear from these that the book is William's - for example one reads 'William Dixon His Book May ye 10th 1733'. If this William Dixon was indeed the author of the manuscript, he would have been 55 when he started compiling it, and 60 when he ceased. One son of John Dixon, another William, founded an important coal and iron business in central Scotland later in the century, which was further developed by his son. 'Dixon's Blazes' still survived as a business in Glasgow within living memory, and still does as a placename there. Julia Say has conjectured that this is how the manuscript reached Scotland.

Nothing is definitely known of the whereabouts of the manuscript in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century, however, it was in the collection of the composer and cellist Charles Macintosh, of Inver, Perthshire. His grandfather had been a pupil of Niel Gow, who lived in the same village. In 1909, he offered it to the great music collector, Dorothea Ruggles-Brise, saying "I have an old torn book upstairs; it is of no use to anyone; you may have it if you like". She replied "This is a curiosity, I would rather not rob you. Will you let me buy it?". Offended, he answered "In that case, I will put it in the fire." She pulled it out, before it was damaged. She correctly recognised the music as "a collection of pipe jigs of the border country". This book, and the other music books in her personal collection, known as the Atholl Collection, were bequeathed to Perth Public Library on her death in 1938.

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