George Thomson

Who was George Thomson?

George Thomson, born at Limekilns, Fife, Scotland, was a noted collector of the music of Scotland, a music publisher, and a friend of Robert Burns. He was clerk to the Board of Trustees in Edinburgh for sixty years. His A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice came out in five volumes between 1799 and 1818, and included contributions from Burns, Walter Scott and Thomas Campbell. Thomson published folksong arrangements by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Nepomuk Hummel.