The North-East relates to Aberdeenshire, especially Buchan, and the former counties of Banff, Kincardine and Moray which include the ancient lands of Deer, Garioch, Formartine, Gight, Mar, Strathbogie and Tolly, names still used today.

The Central Highlands comprise the former shires of Angus, Perth, Kinross, Stirling and Nairn together with the ancient districts of Atholl, Strathmore, Breadalbane and Badenoch. The major contribution of music is from Perthshire.

This volume contains over 150 melodies including airs and pastorals, strathspeys, marches, reels, jigs, hornpipes, waltzes and bothy ballads and is representative of some of the oldest and finest fiddle music in Scotland. The North-East can claim an almost uncanny succession of fiddlers and composers of the highest quality from the time of William Marshall (1748-1833) to the present day. Perthshire, particularly from the focal points of Inver and Dunkeld, has also produced an incredible stream of outstanding fiddlers and composers for over 100 years from the time of Neil Gow and his family in the early 18th century.

In addition are previously unpublished compositions by modern composers.