Add MS 43406

MUCHELNEY BREVIARY. Vol. II. Contents:-

(1) Calendar, in blue, red, and black. Printed, with discussion by F. Armitage Robinson, by Schofield, op. cit., pp. 128-158, and by F. Wormaid, English Benedictine kalendars after A.D. 1100, vol. II, Henry Bradshaw Soc., lxxxi, 1946, pp. 92-103. Entries in blue include the following feasts:-'Dedicacio maioris ecclesie de Muchelney' (7 Jan.), SS. Edward, King and Martyr (18 Mar.), Thomas Becket (Transl., 7 July), Decuman (30 Aug.), 'Commemoracio sanctarum reliquiarum' (15 Oct., as at Wells), Edmund, Abp. (16 Nov.), Edmund, King and Martyr (20 Nov.). Entries in red include:-SS. Cuthbert (20 Mar.), Alphege (19 Apr.), Andrew, Apostle, and Nicholas, Bp. (Transl., 9 May), Dunstan (19 May), Augustine (26 May), Alban (22 June), Swithun (2 July), Grimbald (8 July), Edwold (12 Aug.), 'Dedicacio oratorii sancte Marie' (5 Nov.), Hugh (17 Nov.), Cungar (27 Nov.), Birinus (3 Dec.), Egwin (3o Dec.). Entries in Black include:-SS. Wulstan (19 Jan.), Chad (2 Mar.), Patrick (17 Mar.), Guthlac (11 Apr.), Albert [al. Ethelbert] (20 May), Aldhelm (25 May), Petroc (4 June), Antony [of Padua] (13 June), Botulph (17 June), Etheldreda (23 June), Mildred (13 July), Swithun (Transl., 15 July), Kenelm (17 July), Oswald, King and Martyr (5 Aug.), Aidan (31 Aug.), Cuthbert (Transl., 4 Sept.), Egwin (Transl., 10 Sept.), Aethelwin (14 Sept.), Edith (16 Sept.), Francis (4 Oct.), Paulinus (10 Oct.), Wulfrid (12 Oct.). Additions to the Calendar, in a number of late 13th-16th-centt. hands, include the feasts of SS. Oswald, Abp. (28 Feb.), Anne (26 July), Transfiguration of Our Lord (6 Aug.), Athelwin 'aput athelney' (18 Sept.), Edward Conf. (Transl., 13 Oct.), Etheldreda (17 Oct.), Frideswide (19 Oct.), Osmund (4 Dec.); also notes of the dedications of a number of churches, of the elections, installations and obits of abbots, etc., of the obits of relatives of the abbots and of benefactors and tenants of the abbey, and of occasional historical events, cf. Schofield, op. cit., pp. x-xvii. ff. 1-6b.

(2) Psalter, Canticles, and Athanasian Creed. ff. 7-87b.

(3) Litany and Prayers. 1n the Litany the names of SS. Peter and Benedict are marked for double invocation, as is that of St Anne, which has been added (f. 88) in the 15th cent. The English Saints include:-(martyrs) Thomas Becket, Alban, Oswald, Edward King and Martyr, Elphege, Decuman; (confessors) Augustine, Birinus, Grimbald, Swithun, Ethelwold, Dunstan, Egwin, Wulfrid, Cuthbert, Edwold, Hugh, Edmund, Congar; (virgins) Brigida, Etheldreda, Editha. ff. 87b-90.

(4) Commendation of Souls and Office of the Dead. Cf. Tolhurst, op. cit., vi, PP. 77-81, 107-113. ff. 90-94b.

(5) Prayers or Capitella at the Office. Cf. Tolhurst, op. cit., vi, pp. 18-46. fF. 95-95 b.

(6) Sanctorale, SS. Andrew-Saturninus. Besides the more usual ones, full proper offices are given for the feasts of SS. Nicholas (ff. 103-107b), Gregory(ff. 138b-142), Cuthbert (ff. 142-145b), Benedict (ff. 145b-149b), Dunstan (ff. 169b-173b), Transl. of Benedict (ff. 193-195), Denis and his companions (ff. 249-252). That for St Cuthbert is collated by C. Hohler, 'The Durham services in honour of St Cuthbert', The Relics of St Cuthbert, ed. C. F. Battiscombe, 1956, pp. 169-175, 185-186. Some proper items are also included in the offices for the following saints: Augustine of Canterbury (ff. 173b-175), Alban (ff. 176-176b), Etheldreda (f. 176b), Transl. of Thomas Becket (ff. 191b-193), Edmund King and Martyr (ff. 272b-274b). The only English saint included in the Sanctorale whose name is not also found in the Calendar is Ethelwold (ff. 202b-205). ff. 98-285.

(7) Commune Sanctorum. Cf. Dom A. Hughes, The Portiforium of St Anselm, vol. ii, Henry Bradshaw Soc., xc, 1960, pp. xi-xxv. ff. 285-326b.

(8) Forms for votive offices, etc., of the B.V.M. and St Peter. ff. 326b- 33ob.

(9) Added collects of SS. Wulstan and Milburga, 14th and 15th centt. f. 330b. Vellum; ff. xxi+ 330. 252 mm. X 169 mm. Late XIII cent. Original gatherings, as in vol. I, Mostly Of 12 leaves (16, ix7, xxix8), preceded by three gatherings of added leaves (ff. i-ix: a2, b2, C5 [2 is a single leaf]) and followed by two others at the end (ff. x-xxi: d3, e'10 [7 is a stub]). Catchwords, script and decoration as in vol. I, but lacks the added 15th(?) cent. signatures. Colophon (f. 330b), 'Explic[itl expliceat ludere scriptor eat.', and beneath it in a 14th-cent. hand the added note 'parof beo pou sur.ne may he nouere go to voer'. The added material (ff. i-xxi, see further above) includes, in addition to transcripts of deeds, etc.:-

(a) Epigrams in praise of monastic life: viz. twenty-one couplets and one triplet in Latin verse beg. 'Cella dei sedes in qua si tu bene te des', 15th cent. Printed by Schofield, OP- cit., pp. 55-56. In another version in Sloane MS. 251 5, ff. 3-4, which includes four additional epigrams (cf. Schofield, op. cit., p. xxviii) but omits the last as found in the present MS., the couplets, etc., are arranged in alphabetical order of their initial letters, beg. 'Ad regnum celi suspires mente fideli'; in this arrangement they are stated to have been written on the doors of the cells at the London Charterhouse, which were lettered A-Z (cf. Sir W. H. St John Hope, Hist. of the London Charterhouse, 1925, P. 160). ff. i-ib;-(b) Memoranda of homages to the Abbot, 1306-1502. Printed by Schofield, op. cit., PP. 57-119 passim. ff. iii-xxpassim;-(c) Notes on the celebration of the Mass, beg. ' Queritur si aperta negligencia de corpore aut de sanguine domini acciderit', 14th cent. Printed by Schofield, op. cit., pp. 65-68. Another copy, imperfect at the end,

is in Harley MS. 979, f. 73; cf. Royal MS. 5 A. 1, ff. 3 3-34, Arundel MS. 292, ff. 68-70. ff. vi-vib;-

(d) Note on the seven orders of priesthood, beg. 'Hec est sentencia de septem gradibus ecclesiarum', 14th cent. f. 95b;-(e) Assessment of the Abbot's free tenants for the scutages Of 28 and 31 Edw. 1, 14th cent. (temp. Edw. II). Printed by Schofield, op. cit., pp. 92-96. ff. xiib-xiii;-(f) Cypher key, substituting symbols for letters, 15th cent. f. xiii;-(g) Verses in English on the Works of Mercy, Old Age, etc.: two rhyming quatrains followed by two rhyming couplets, beg. 'Pat 1 telle hord y maket pt is almes dede', 14th cent. Printed by Schofield, op. cit., p. 99. f. xivb;-

(h) The Ten Commandments sumarised in Latin verse: two versions, each of four lines, beg. respectively 'Unum crede Deum' (cf. Royal MSS. 8 D. iv, f. 77; 16 E. ix, f. 1 b) and 'Speme deos, fugite periuria' (cf. Royal MSS. 1 A. xvii, f. 415b; 10 A. x, f. 93b; 10 A. xvii, f. iiib), 14th cent. Printed by Schofield, op. cit., p. 100. f. xivb;-(i) Metrical benediction in Latin: nine lines beg. 'Benediccione perpetua benedicat nos trinitas sancta', 14th cent. Printed by Schofield, op. cit., p. 114. f. xx;-(j) Letter of Pope Clement VI to Edward III, in Latin, with the latter's reply, in French, 1347. COPY (14th cent.). Taken probably from the texts given by Robert de Avesbury, De gestis mirabilibus Edwardi tertii, ed. E. M. Thompson, Rolls Ser., 1889, pp. 377-381; cf. Schofield, op. cit., pp. 115- 119. ff. xxbxxi.

Orders Religious. Benedictines: Muchelney Breviary: late 13th cent.

Liturgies LATIN: Breviary from Muchelney Abbey, co. Som.: late 13th cent.

Muchelney Abbey; Somerset: Breviary of, with memoranda (14th-16th centt.) rel. to: late 13th cent.

Robert Standish Sievier, racehorse owner: Armorial bookplate: late 19th cent.

includes:

• f. i* Bookplates and Book-stamps: Sievier (Robert Standish), d.1939.
• f. xiii Cyphers: Cypher alphabet: 14th cent.
• f. xivb Poetry ENGLISH: Moral verses: early 14th cent.
• f. xivb Poetry LATIN: Two metrical versions of the Ten Commandments: 14th cent.
• f. xixb Poetry LATIN: Three verses on piety: 14th cent.
• f. xvii b Weights and Measures: Tables of land measures: 14th-16th centt.: Lat.
• f. xx Bells: Note conc. bells at Muchelney and Kingsbury Episcopi: 14th-15th centt.: Lat.
• f.xx Prayers: Prayers, notes, etc.: 14th-15th centt.
• ff. i, ib Poetry LATIN: Metrical epigrams in praise of monastic life: 15th cent.
• ff. vi, vib Sacraments: Notes on the celebration of the Mass: 14th cent.: Lat.
• ff. xiib, xiii Taxes: Memoranda rel. to scutage 14th-15th centt.
• ff. xxbxxib Clement VI; Pope: Letter to Edward III (Lat.), with the latter's reply (Fr.): 1347.: Lat, Fr: Copies.
• ff. xxb-xxib Edward III of England: Correspondence with Pope Clement VI: 1347.: Lat. and Fr.: Copies.
• ff. 1-6b Calendars: Calendar in the Muchelney Breviary: late 13th cent.: Lat.
• ff. 1 b-6, 227b, 282 John Sherborne, Abbot of Muchelney 1522-1532: Notes by: n.d.
• f. 95 b Theology: Tract on the seven orders of the priesthood: 14th cent.
• f.96 Henry VIII of England: Lease of a fishery at Curry Rivel: 1523.: Lat.
• f.96 Fish and Fisheries: Lease by Henry VIII of a fishery at Curry Rivel, co. Som.: 1523.: Lat.: Copy.