George Thomson of Edinburgh, a notable promoter of Scottish music, encouraged settings of his nation's folk songs. In particular, he found a rich source of arrangements in Vienna, where he commissioned first Haydn and then Beethoven to set a large sequence of poems, including those of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. Thomson envisaged simple works, agreeable to amateurs, but Beethoven found it impossible to compose within such limitations and his settings, which include Irish and Welsh songs, with the accompaniment of strings and piano, have proved perennially popular.

Tracklist:
01. 20 Irish Songs, WoO 153 (Excerpts): No. 13, 'Tis Sunshine at Last
02. 26 Welsh Songs, WoO 155 (Excerpts): No. 19, The Vale of Clwyd [1st Version]
03. 20 Irish Songs, WoO 153 (Excerpts): No. 5, I Dream'd I Lay Where Flow'rs Were Springing [2nd Version]
04. 20 Irish Songs, WoO 153 (Excerpts): No. 12, I'll Praise the Saints [1st Version]
05. 20 Irish Songs, WoO 153 (Excerpts): No. 15, 'Tis but in Vain [2nd Version]
06. 12 Irish Songs, WoO 154: No. 9, Oh! Would I Were but That Sweet Linnet (1st Version)
07. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 4, The Maid of Isla [2nd Version]
08. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 4, The Maid of Isla [1st Version]
09. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 7, Bonnie Laddie, Highland Laddie [2nd Version]
10. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 7, Bonnie Laddie, Highland Laddie [1st Version]
11. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 20, Faithfu' Johnie [1st Version]
12. 26 Welsh Songs, WoO 155 (Excerpts): No. 7, O Let the Night My Blushes Hide [2nd Version]
13. 26 Welsh Songs, WoO 155 (Excerpts): No. 14, The Dream [1st Version]
14. 26 Welsh Songs, WoO 155 (Excerpts): No. 20, To the Blackbird [1st Version]
15. 25 Scottish Songs, Op. 108 (Excerpts): No. 11, O! Thou Art the Lad of My Heart [1st Version]
16. 7 British Songs, WoO 158b (Excerpts): No. 7, Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill
17. 7 British Songs, WoO 158b (Excerpts): No. 2, Castle O'Neill
18. 25 Irish Songs, WoO 152: No. 5, The Massacre of Glenco (1st Version)
19. 23 Songs of Various Nationalities, WoO 158a: No. 19, Una paloma blanca (1st Version)
20. 20 Irish Songs, WoO 153 (Excerpts): No. 11, When Far from the Home [Alternative Version]