I've been playing the tunes on the piano and on recorder. So far they've all been in D except for one, "Paddy's Leather Breeches," which cries out to be in A.

As Jack has pointed out, I can play these on a G instrument. I have a couple of G flutes, and I'll give them a try. I'm having fun working out the tunes. Sometimes I recognize one that I've been hearing at concerts for years without knowing its name. For example, Atholl Highlanders.

Re: "The Simon Fraser is a showy competition band and they do difficult stuff for the sake of it. Don't be surprised if you find some of the tunes nearly impossible." - That probably explains the number and complexity of the ornaments in this book. Fortunately, if one's eyes are bad enough, the ornaments can't even be seen and it's back to the tune.

I ignore the ornaments. They are next to impossible to read. Anyway, I think ornaments are between a musician and his instrument. They need to be easily played or to hide a defect in the instrument. Therefore, different instrument, different ornaments.

One exception I know of is ornamentation in Mozart's music, where a particular ornament is the key to opening a whole section. I have friends who play piano, and they tell me that losing a section by missing the ornament is known as "The Schlotzman Cut-off."

Now, does anybody know what "Whistle O'er the Lave O't" means?