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Egerton MS 90

Record Id:

032-003796792

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-003796792

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100118002743.0x000001

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Egerton MS 90

Title:

Fragments of the legal tract Bretha Éitgid and some poetical material

Scope & Content:

Fragments of Bretha Éitgid and some poetic material.

A detailed description is provided by O'Grady and Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts, II, pp. 76-85.

f. 1r: Paper pastedown with a brief description of the manuscript's contents in English.

f. 1v: Blank.

ff. 2r-6v: A calendar In Irish, begins in March finishes in December. f. 2r is badly faded on the upper left.

f. 7r: Table on astrological signs.

f. 7v: Scribblings in Irish.

f. 8r-v: Deed/suit concering land in east Co. Clare, Eanach mór (Anaghmore) and Cúil Lios Taidhg (Coolisteige), among the Mac Namara family. Some pieces have been scratched out and the leaf is badly creased.

ff. 9r-v: ff. 9r-v: Conclusion of an imperfect section on injuries to the person. This is a fragment of the E version of Bretha Éitgid.

ff. 10r-v: Smaller, square scrap of parchment inserted. Text on f. 10r is almost identical to f. 11r, col. 2 ll. 20-. f. 10v is more on the same topic, cows with defective udders. Begins 'Bo aruth .i. intan ise ahut uile is sspadhach arra is bo acomaicimt theis'. Corresponding section on f. 11r begins 'Bo ar uth inin baidh ise ahut[?] uil[?] rom do ges bo .ii. dar a heisi'.

ff. 11r-12v: Continuation of the E version of Bertha Éitgid from ff. 9r-v.

Lacuna between ff. 12 and 13.

ff. 13r-16v: A fragment of the A version of Bretha Éitgid. Lacuna between ff. 13 and 14.

ff. 17-20 were originally part of the Book of Uí Mhaine.

f. 17r: Metrical glossary. Imperfect, begins with the second line; poem on the division of Ireland into twenty-piece parts, begins 'Ugaine uallach amhra'.

ff. 17r-v: Poem on Emain Macha beginning 'Eamain Macha nach min muir'.

f. 17v: Poem on the the origins of Cnuacha, beings 'Cnuacha cnoc os linn Life'. Imperfect. Ends, after the forty-ninth quatrain.

f. 18r: Poem on the origin and descent of the Uí Máine. Imperfect, begins with the penultimate line of a quatrain 'ní fuil aird do mide amach'.

ff. 18r-v: Poem on the three Collas beginning 'Oirgiallaigh aird mora uaisli eirgead um crand' (Available at 'https://bardic.celt.dias.ie/pdf/POEM182.pdf'). Preceeded by introductory prose paragagraph on the death of Eochaidh Daimhléin.

f. 18v: Poem on the thee named Colla, beginning 'Trí meic cuind crithi d'aireamh', with a prose prologue relating the death of Fiacha Sraibtine; poem on the same subject beginning 'Oirghialla a Eamhain Macha'. Attributed to Gilla na naemh O Duinn. This poem seems to be complete, but could there be leave(s) missing between f. 18 and f. 19?

f. 19r: Headed 'Incipit do duanaib sochair clainne Ceallaigh do rinne Mac Liag et alii poete do Tadhg catha Briain'. The final words of the heading have been trimmed by a modern binder but are provided by O'Grady and Flower, Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts, I, p. 84; poem beginning 'Beannacht Abruin ar Brigit'.

ff. 19r-v: Poem beginning 'Sciath rig Gaela galntar hí', an enumeration of the chieftains of the O'Kelly's country.

f. 19v: Lament on the death of Tadhg O'Kelly, asking for him not to be buried until the poet (Mac Liag) has had a chance to see the body. Begins 'Leasg amleasg sind gu Ath Cliath'. Imperfect. Text breaks off during a quatrain.

ff. 20r-v: Poem on the Christian kings of Ulster. Begins ' Clannd Ollaman uaisli Eamna' (cf. Book of Ballymote to see if this is perect). Page is fairly transparent, making it difficult to read.

f. 20v: Poem on the descendants of Conall Cernach, begins 'Cruas Connacht clanna Sogain'.

Decoration:

Human figure with text in the body (f. 8r). One initial highlighted in red on f. 8v. Large initials. Decorative 's' (f. 12v). Initials with minor decoration in black ff. 9r-16v. Initials highlighted in ff. 18r-19v. Fancy 'c' on f. 20r.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Egerton Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-003796792", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Egerton MS 90: Fragments of the legal tract Bretha Éitgid and some poetical material" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-003796792

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-003796792

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Irish

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1300

End Date:

1499

Date Range:

14th-15th century

Era:

Access:

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Physical Characteristics:

Material: Parchment

Dimensions: Section 1; 230 x 165mm (written area 150 x 130mm): Section 2; 310 x 205mm (written area 280 x 195mm): Section 3; 260 x 180mm (written area 205 x 140mm) f. 10: 100 x 105 mm (written area 85 x 80 mm): Section 4: 410 x 245mm (written area 325-350 x 190-210mm)

Foliation: ff. 20 (+ 5 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 5 unfolatiated paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Irish.

Binding: British Museum in-house. Red half-leather, with arms gold-stamped on the upper and lower covers. Rebound in 1863.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Ireland: part was possibly written in Co. Clare as f. 8 is a deed concerning lands in Clare. As it is a composite manuscript this origin cannot be attributed to all gatherings.

Provenance:

ff. 9-12: Leaves from a manuscript described by William O'Sullivan as 'the Book of Cairbre mac Domhnaill Uí Dheoradháin', fragments of which survive elsewhere (Royal Irish Academy MS 23 Q 6).

ff. 13-16: Leaves from a manuscript described by William O'Sullivan as 'the Book of Dáibhídh Ó Súilleabháin Bán', fragments of which survive in Royal Irish Academy MS D v 2.

ff. 17-20: O'Ceallaigh (O'Kelly) family: The Book of Uí Mhaine, from which ff. 17-20 originate, was written over a number of years for Muircheartach Ó Ceallaigh, Bishop of Clonfert (1378-93) and later archbishop of Tuam (1393-1407). The manuscript remained in Galway until 1757, sometimes in the possession of the earls of Clanrickard, sometimes in the possession of the O'Kelly family.

Sir William Betham (b.1779, d. 1953): Sir William Betham was in posession of the Book of Uí Mhaine by 1814.

Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (b.,1797 d.1861): In 1823 Betham sold the Book of Uí Mhaine to the Duke of Buckingham for £150.

Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (b.1797, d.1878): In 1849 the Duke of Ashburnham bought the Book of Uí Mhaine, among other manuscripts, from the library of Stowe House following the bankruptcy of the Duke of Buckingham.

British Government: The Book of Uí Mhaine was part of the Stowe-Ashburnham collection which was purchased by the British government in 1863 and deposited in the Royal Irish Academy. It is not clear when ff. 17-20 of Egerton MS 90 were lost from the Book of Uí Mhaine.

James Hardiman, Irish historian and librarian (b. 1782, d. 1855). Hardiman sold his manuscript collection to the British Museum in 1832 in order to fund his research to complete the proof of the Netterville peerage for James Netterville.

Bought by the British Museum, using the Bridgewater fund (£12,000 bequeathed in 1829 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (b. 1756, d. 1829).

Publications:

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), i, 76-85.

Corpus Iuris Hibernici, ed. by D. A. Binchy, 7 vols (Dublin: Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, 1978), v, 1619-49.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)