This collection consists of seven very short pieces, six of which were published as the first edition shown below, while the remaining piece is known today only through a manuscript copy.

Details of the First Edition

• Six New and Easy Scottish Dances for the Pianoforte by F. Kuhlau, C.C. Lose & Co., Copenhagen, 1812, folded oblong edition. Cover: Quadruple fold (typographic print), Score: Six pieces printed on one side of the page (engraved print). An advertisement for these six published pieces appeared in the supplement to the Adresse newspaper on August 12, 1812.

Regarding the Manuscript

This work is included in Kuhlau's collection Kuhlau's Piano Works, Vol. 1, copied by Anton Pauli Wilhelm Nicolai Kaiper (1796-1861), Kuhlau's "assistant" and an officer. The first volume contains "Rondo for the Pianoforte composed in Gefle" (page 21, copied on July 7, 1824), but the composition of this piece, including the initial six pieces, must have predated the copying date. Kaiper's manuscript further includes one additional piece (No. 7). This seventh piece is published in Jørn L. Baunfohr's doctoral dissertation Friedrich Kuhlau's Concertos and Piano Sonatas in C Major (Hamburg, 1971, score volume p. 18). The melody of this piece originates from the Norwegian tune "Poul His Chicken."

Kaiper's manuscript Vol. 1 contains an Adagio in E-flat minor 3/8 as an introduction to an Allegro con brio in E-flat major 3/4, and similarly, a Grave in G major 2/2 as an introduction to an Allegro non tanto in G minor 6/4. In the manuscript, both of these pieces are attributed to Kuhlau; however, considering their heavy, unpianistic passages, lack of harmonic tension, and numerous parallel 3rds and 6ths, they differ from Kuhlau's style. It is likely that Kaiper composed them.