At that time, dance tunes were disseminated via cheap printed sheets (e.g., John Johnson’s 200 Favourite Country Dances ) and handwritten manuscripts exchanged among musicians. Vickers’ book is unusual for its size and the inclusion of tune titles that mix local dialect, political references, and standard dance forms.

The collection is remarkably diverse, consisting of approximately categorized largely as "country dances". It is particularly noted for its:

This is the core value of the manuscript. It contains early versions of tunes that are now considered the standards of the Northumbrian Small Pipes repertoire. Tunes like “The Keel Row” and “Blow the Wind Southerly” have roots that intertwine with this era. Vickers provides us with the 18th-century chord structures and melodic contours of these songs, often differing slightly from the versions we hear today.

: Compiled by William Vickers between 1770 and 1772, the manuscript contains approximately 580 surviving tunes, including jigs, reels, and hornpipes. Archival Value

Based in London, the EFDSS (English Folk Dance and Song Society) has digitized their microfilm copy. Navigate to their "Roud Index" and search for "Vickers." They offer free downloads of the manuscript pages as JPEGs.

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