Editorial annotations:
When the Copyist has made a choice, this has been marked with brackets "[ ]" or parenthesis "( )". For example in Frisky, where there is no time signature in the original edition, or in Meggy's Foot (8th) and Over the Border (9th) and 11(th) where there is a rhythmic inconsistency.
Peacock's contemporaries (e.g. Thomas Bewick), who referred to Peacock's style as having
"his lilts, his pauses, and his variations" [L.Jessop], suggested to the copyist that
ornaments, dotted notes, slurs, staccatos and
graces must be left unaltered in this Urtext because they are expressions of the author.
Nevertheless, the trill signs have been subsituted with the inverted mordent.
This ornament is sometimes called a transient shake because it is really only a part of the more
elaborate grace known as the "perfect trill". [K.W.Gehrkens]
Evident mistakes, have been corrected and underlined with "analysis brackets" as shown in the following 34th measure of Felton Lonning:
None of the annotations left on the MS by previous owners have been engraved to preserve, as far as possible, the original conditions. An exception has been made for Bobby Shaftoe because it seems to the copyist that the Bobby Shaftoe continuation at the end of page 20 of the original Soc. Ant. MS is rather an omission hastly corrected by the author/editor than a later owner annotation. The method of using a recall sign (at the end of the main six variations) is the same applied in I Saw my Love come Passing by Me on page 8 of the same MS. The same recall sign is reproduced in the 1980's facsimile edition where, however, the continuation is omitted. Finally the 7 th stave of Bobby Shaftoe engraved in the 1999 NPS edition is exactly the last strain of the Bobby Shaftoe continuation in the Soc. Ant. MS of course in "true" G and not in C Lydian). To emphasize the differences between the main variations and the continuation, this one has been engraved in small size, and the noteheads greyed. Although a debated point-of-view[1], the key-signature has been left unaltered because at the time the MS was published there were only three drones to accompany the keyless chanter so the original tuning of g, d and G is authentic for the smallpipes of that period.[2]
A thematic catalogue list of theme code[3] indexed Peacock's Tunes and incipit has been provided at the end of the tune book together with an alphabetical list of tunes indexed by page and Peacock's tunes numbering.
Theme code indexes have been found useful in writing commentaries, by providing titles for untitled tunes (if a tune is known but not its title, it can be found) and identifying composers.[4]