These nine essays consider for the first time the day-to-day performing practice of English composers of choral music of the period 1440-1650.

Cassidy presents a history of the Irish influence on American slang in a colourful romp through the slums, the gangs of New York and the elaborate scams of grifters and con men, their secret language owing much to the Irish Gaelic imported with many thousands of immigrants. With chapters on How the Irish Invented Poker and How the Irish Invented Jazz, Cassidy stakes a claim for the Irishness of American English. Includes a preface by Peter Quinn and an Irish - American Vernacular Dictionary.

A new edition of this textbook discusses the learned vocabulary of English - the words borrowed from the classical languages.