Donald MacDonald was one of the first pipers to attempt to write down this music in ordinary musical notation. He published one volume and promised another, never published, of which this is the manuscript. The manuscript was ultimately bequeathed to Major-General C S Thomason, and was utilized by him and to a certain extent incorporated into his 'Ceol Mor' (1900), in which its history is given.

At the beginning is a printed history of the airs in the volume, with manuscript notes.