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Egerton MS 2899

Record Id:
032-001984966
Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
032-001984966
MDARK:
ark:/81055/vdc_100000000057.0x000332
LARK:
SLARK:
Format:
ISAD(G)
Reference (shelfmark):
Egerton MS 2899
Title:

A Psalter in Latin, with a calendar and an Irish poem.

Scope & Content:

The Gallician version of the Psalter in Latin, with an Irish poem and a (Scottish?) calendar.

A detailed description of the Irish material is provided by O'Grady and Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts, ii, pp. 23-4.

f. ii recto: Blank.

f. ii verso: Note added in a later hand of the manuscript's old shelfmark: 'pr. 6, sh. 2, no. 37' (Press 6, shelf 2, number 37).

f. iii recto: An Irish poem Imchlód Aingel written on a parchment flyleaf; notes in a later hand about the manuscripts former shelf number.

f. iii verso: Ownership inscription in a later hand of a certain Colin Campbell.

f. 1r-6v: A calendar.

ff. 7r-154r: The Psalms. Finishes with Psalm 147.

ff. 154r-v: The Athanasian Creed.

Some material was added at a later date.

f. i recto: A paper leaf has been inserted at the beginning, with the Bookplate of the Earl of Breadalbane on the verso.

Decorations:

Historiated initials (f. 7r,). Inhabited initials (30r, 44v, 57v, 58v, 104v, 106v, 121r). Zoomorphic initials (ff. 72r, 89r). Foliate initial (f. 127r). Numerous pen-flourished initials marking the beginning of each Psalm, one of which has faces drawn into the bowl at f. 80v. Marginal illutrations of human figures and faces (ff. 6r, 6v, 29r, 34r, 53v, 54v, 55r, 58v, 59v, 60v, 68v, 71r, 71v, 72v, 73r, 74v, 75r, 76v, 77r, 77v (with a claw coming out of the mouth), 79r, 79v, 80r, 81r, 82v, 85r, 86v, 88r, 89r, 91r, 92r, 94v, 95v, 97r, 97v, 98v, 99v, 100v, 101r, 102r, 105v, 108r, 109v, 118v, 134v, 136r, 142v). Marginal drawings of animals (ff. 34r, 50r, 54r, 55v, 61v, 62v, 63r, 65v, 67v, 69v, 78v, 82r, 84r, 85r, 86r, 95r, 133v, 142r, 145r). Marginal drawings of hands (ff. 30v, 32r, 34v, 57r, 58r, 65v, 69r, 75v, 78r, 84v, 91v). Other marginal illustrations (ff. 87r, 96v, 97r, 97v, 98r, 99r, 101v, 102v, 121r, 127v, 132v 135v, 138r, 142r, 146r).

Collection Area:
Western Manuscripts
Project / Collection:
Egerton Manuscripts
Hierarchy Tree:
[{ "id" : "032-001984966", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Egerton MS 2899: A Psalter in Latin, with a calendar and an Irish poem." , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
Hierarchy Record Ids:
032-001984966
Is part of:
not applicable
Hierarchy:
032-001984966
Container:
not applicable
Record Type (Level):
Fonds
Extent:
1 item
Digitised Content:
Languages:
Irish
Latin
Scripts:
Latin
Start Date:
1460
End Date:
1499
Date Range:
14th and Late 15th century
Era:
CE
Access:

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Physical Characteristics:

Material: Parchment.

Dimensions: 240 x 175mm (written area 180 x 165mm [f. iii]; 200 x 145 [ff. 1-6]; 170 x 125mm [ff. 154]).

Foliation: ff. iii + 154 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end).

Binding: Post-1600/In-house: Dark blue leather, tooled in gold with the Bridgwater arms stamped on the upper and lower covers. Marbled endpapers.

Custodial History:

Origin: Scotland?

Provenance:

Colin Campbell, 3rd Laird of Gelnorchy (b. c. 1468, d. 1523): An ownership inscription on f. iiii verso most likely refers to this Colin Campbell.

Earl of Breadalbane: Bookplate of the Earl of Breadalbane at f. i recto.

Bought by the British Museum at the Sotheby's auction 7/2/1912, using the Bridgewater fund (£12,000 bequeathed in 1829 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829). The manuscript was lot 702.

Publications:

Catalogue of Additions to the MSS., British Museum, 1911-1915.

Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum, ed. by Standish Hayes O'Grady (vol. I) and Robin Flower (vol. II), 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1926; repr. 1992), ii, 23-4.

Material Type:
Archives and Manuscripts
Legal Status:
Not Public Record(s)
Names:
Campbell, Colin, of Glenorchy, d 1523
Campbell, Earl of Breadalbane
Columba, S Virgin and Martyr
Related Material:

PSALTER, in Latin. Contents: 1. Calendar, containing many distinctively Scottish saints. These include, besides SS. Fillan, Monan, Duthac (here commemorated on Mar. 9, instead of the usual date, Mar. 8), Margaret (translation, June 19, not the rarer deposition on Nov. 16), Moloc, Serf, Blane here Aug. 11 instead of 10), Ninian, and others of almost universal veneration (cf. A. P. Forbes, Kalenders of Scottish Saints, 1872), the following less common entries: Jan. 10, S. Katani episcopi, ix lect. [St. Cathan al. Chattan, usually honoured on May 17, and chiefly associated with the island of Bute, but also with Argyllshire, see J. M. Mackinlay, Ancient Church Dedications in Scotland, ii, 1914, pp. 109, 110] ; Jan. 13, S. Kentigerni ep. et conf., duplex festum, and July 7 (a nine-lesson double feast for the Translation of St. Thomas the martyr), S. Kentigerni ep. [suggeseting a connexion with Glasgow] ; Feb. 15, S. Colmoci ep. et conf., ix lect.; Feb. 25, S. Cumini abb. [of Iona, usually Feb. 24]; Mar. 5, S. Mirnoci ep., ix lect., S. Kyarani ep.; Mar. 13, S. Conani ep. et conf., ix lect. [apparently associated with Glenorchy, near Inverary, co. Argyll (see Forbes, p. 308) ; perhaps the "S. Comnanus abb. Huensis" who occurs on Mar. 14 in the Kalendar of D. Camerarius (ib. p. 236) ?] ; Oct. 5, S. Ali ep. et conf. [? Ailbe, Bishop of Emly in Munster, usually honoured on Sept. 12]; Oct. 20, S. Maldybii ("abbatis" scored through in red) conf. [St. Fintan Maeldubh, Abbot of Clonenagh in Ireland (Acta SS., 20 Oct., p. 896, etc.). It is perhaps relevant to note that Kylmalduff was the ancient name of Inverary parish (Mackinlay, p. 138)]; Nov. 4, S. Ferguciani ep. et conf, ix lect. [associated most specially with Glammis, co. Forfar, but also with Glasgow Cathedral, as well as other places in Scotland (Breuiaium Aberdonense, Bannatyne Club, 1854, pars estiva, fo. clxiii b; Mackinlay, pp. 26, 210-213 )]; Nov. 5, S. Monidi ep., ix lect.; Dec. 30, S. Duthaci ep. et conf., ix lect. It is not easy to form any precise conclusion, but the Calendar on the whole seems to suggest Argyllshire a probable place of orgin. Other entries worth noting are Mar. 23 (instead of 19), S. Joseph "cuiuscunque confessoris," duplex festum, and May 20, S. Barnerdini "cuiuscunque confessoris," ix lect. [St. Bernardino of Siena, d. 1444, canonized 1450]. There are a few additions by a somewhat later hand, viz. Feb. 4, S. Modani abb., ix lect.;-Feb. 17, S. Bercani abb.; Feb. 19, S. Meleno abb., ix lect. ;-Mar. 8, S. Connani ep. conf.; Mar. 24, S. Dongarti ep. et conf., ix lect. ; Apr. 21, S. Molroue [for Maelrubha ?] ep. et mart., iii lect.; Aug. 9, S. Mocadii ep., ix lect.; Oct. 27, S. Odorani conf., ix lect.; Dec. 14, Bedani ep. conf. ; Dec. 22, S. Iternani ep. et conf.; Dec. 23, S. Petridiaconi conf. The precise significance of these additions is not obvious, but three of them may perhaps be regarded as confirming the localization suggested above: Modanus, patron of Kilmodan, near Inverary; Odoranus, venerated at Iona, Oronsay, and in the Argyllshire islands generally ; Bedanus al. Baedan, patron of Ardchattan, co. Argyll (see Mackinlay, pp. 144-150). f. 1.

2. Psalter, Gallican version ; with divisions, marked by large initials, at Pss. xxvi ("Feria secunda"), xxxviii, li, lii, lxviii ("Feria va "), lxxx ("Feria sexta"), xcvii ("Sabbato"), ci, cix ("In dominicis diebus ad vesperas"), and cxviii. Ends with Ps. cxlvii, followed by the "Quicumque uult," imperf. at end. f. 7. On the flyleaf (f. iii) is written a poem in the Irish language and character in a hand of circ. 1500, beg. "Aingeal de dom dhin" (30 quatrains). It is a poem of the lorica type (cf. L. Gougaud, Étude sur les Loricae Celtiques, Bulletin d'Anc. Litt. et d' Archléol. Chrét., i, 1911, p. 265 ; ii, 1912, pp. 33, 101), sometimes attributed to St. Columba. Printed from the Leabhar Breac (facs., 1872-76), p. 262 b, 1. 19, with collation of other by T. P. O' Nolan in the Miscellany presented to Kuno Meyer, 1912, p. 254. For the connexion of the Campbells of Glenorchy with Gaelic poetry see D. Mackinnon, Cat. of Gaelic MSS. in Scotland, 1912, pp. 243, 297. A fuller description will be given in the forthcoming Catalogue of Irish MSS. in the British Museum. Vellum (exc. f. i) ; ff. iii + 154. 91/2 in. x 63/4 in. XIV and late XV centt. (artt. 2, 1), circ. 1500 (art. 3). Gatherings of 8 leaves (i6, art. 1, last4 ), Mostly with catchwords. Large coloured initials of crude Celtic design on ff. 7 (priest with two thurifers), 30 (scribe at desk), 44 b, 57 b (horse), 58 b(wrestlers), 72, 89, 104b, 106b, 121 (mermaid), 127, and quaint designs (human heads, animals, etc.) in many of the margins; flourished initials in red, blue, and green. On f. iii b is a 16th cent. inscription, "Liber Coline Campbell of Glenurquhay eiusdem Glenurquhay" : probably Colin Campbell, 3rd Laird of Glenorchy, co. Argy11, d. 1523 (see The Black Book of Taymouth, ed. C. Innes, Bannatyne Club, 1855, p. 17), ancestor of the Earls and Marquises of Breadalbane. Old press-marks on f. iii : "Shelfe 7. numb. 26" (16th cent.) ; "pr. 6. sh. 2 No 37" (18th-19th cent.). Bookplate of arms of the Earl of Breadalbane, 18th cent. Sotheby's sale-cat., 5-7 Feb. 1912, lot 702.

Liturgies LATIN: Psalter, Scottish: 14th cent.

Campbell, Earl of Breadalbane: Bookplate of arms: 18th cent.

Bookplates: Campbell (-), Earl of Breadalbane: 18th cent.

ART. ILLUMINATIONS AND DRAWINGS SCOTTISH: Psalter: initials, grotesques, etc., of crude Celtic design: 14th cent.

includes:

  • f. iii Poetry: Poem attrib. to St. Columba: circ. 1500.: Irish.
  • f. iii Irish MSS: Poem attrib. to St. Columba: circ. 1500.: Irish.
  • f. iii Columba, S Virgin and Martyr: Poem attributed to: circ. 1500.: Irish.
  • f. 1 Calendars: Scottish Calendar of Saints, prefixed to a Psalter: late 15th cent.: Lat.