Royal MS 13 E X

SCOTICHRONICON and other historical and miscellaneous collections, in Latin, known as 'The Black Book of Paisley', containing:

1. Index to art. 17. At the end (f. 14) are eight elegiac verses (cf. under art. 17):-

'Hic opus hoc finit et scribere desinit auctor, Quod Scoticronicon iure vocare solet. Quinque libros Fordon, vndenos auctor arabat Sic tibi clarescit, sunt sedecim numero.' 'Auctor' is here glossed 'Bower' in the hand of Lord Fairfax, who has written the line with that name on f. 1 and amplified the index, giving references to other MSS. and to charters. In Harley MS. 712 and the Brechin Castle and Edinburgh University MSS. the index follows the text, with the above verses preceding. f. 2.

2. Lists of (a) Monasteries (32) of Scotland, the position, order, and name of the founder being given, with corrections and additions by Lord Fairfax. f. 14;-

(b) Priories (26), 'de quibus conuentuales xi, ceteri celle monasteriorum', 'the position, order, founder, and the parent monasteries of the cells being given. f. 14 b;-

(c) Houses of friars, arranged according to their orders. Ib.;-(d) 'Prefecturi siue prepositud (sic)', with their founders. f. 15;-(e) 'Monasteria monialium', with orders and founders. f. 15. A note follows, 'Notandum quod quaelibet ecclesia parochialis in magnis villis (vt Edinburgh) est Collegium, vt accepi ex relatione magistri Iohannis Adamson prefecti Coll. Edinb. 1650', signed 'Fairfax'. f. 14.

3. List of the earldoms and dukedoms of Scotland (interpolated in the middle of the list of religious houses). Beg. 'Comitatus Scocie. Catness'; ends 'Ducatus Scocie. Roithsay, Albania'. The dates of the creation of 'Auendale' (James, 7th Earl of Douglas, cr. Lord Avondale 1437, The Scots Peerage, iii, p. 173), 'Ormonth' (Hugh Douglas, cr. Earl of Ormond 1445, ib. vi, p. 585), and 'Huntle' (Sir Alexander Seton called Gordon circ. 1457 ('dominus de Gordon' here), cr. Earl of Huntley 1445, ib. iv, p. 522) are given. f. 14 b.

4. 'In sequentibus titulantur omnes summi pontifices et Romanorum imperatores singillatim cum annis eorum regnacionis usque presens': sc. Popes to Nicholas V (1447-1455, without indication of the length of his pontificate), and Emperors (entitled 'de imperatoribus et primo de Iulio Cesare', f. 17) to 'Sigismundus rex Ungarie frater Wenszelli predicti regnauit fere xxx annis et coronatus fuit a Martino v^o ' (Sigismund, Emperor 1411-1437). f. 16.

5. List of the titles of the cardinals and metropolitans, followed by a provincial of all the bishoprics throughout the world. Under Scotland a later hand has bracketed St. Andrews and Glasgow together as archbishoprics. Colophon, 'Explicit prouinciale episcopatuum'. f. 17 b.

Artt. 2-5 occur also in Harley MS. 712 and the Edinburgh MS.; artt. 2, 3 (printed by Goodall, Ioannis de Fordun Scotichroniton, 1759, ii, p. 538), in the Brechin Castle MS. For a collation see D. Murray, The Black Book of Paisley, Paisley, 1885, p. 17.

6. ' Hic de numeris significatur per vnamquamque literam alphabeti': scheme of the numerical value of letters, in hexameters. Beg. 'A caput est numeri quincentum iungere debes. ccccc'; ends 'x-que facit notum numero bis quinque repletum. x'. A slightly differing version is in Sloane MS. 297, f. 9. f. 19b.

7. Notes on early Scottish history in prose and verse. Prose beg. 'Dominus Nevile siue Neolus rex Schithie'; verses beg. 'Quingentis mille cum sexaginta monosque', and end 'Sunt tria que miserum faciunt de divite clerum, Sumere sepe merum, gula uentris, amor mulierum'. Printed by Skene, Chronicles of the Picis and Scots, Edinburgh, 1867, p. 330. The verses are from various sources; some are in the Chronicon Rythmicum (art. ii below) and four in a metrical prophecy of Merlin Ambrosius (cf. Cotton MS. Vesp. E. VII, f. 87 b) printed by Skene (op. cit., p. 117). f. 20.

8. List of battles in Scotland from 'Spot siue Dunbar' (1296) to Homildon Hill (1402). f. 20.

9. Dates of the 'institutio' of the various monastic orders in Scotland, the latest being that of the Carmelites in 1213. f. 20 10. List of historiographers, in two parts, viz. (a) 'De nominibus veterum historiographorum' from 'Pompolus Troius' (Pompeius Trogus) to Victor [Bishop of Vita] de historia Africana; (b) 'De nominibus historiographorum huius libri Scoticronicon' from 'Alexandor de nature reris' (Alexander Neckam de naturis rerum) to 'Gildas' and 'Iohannes de Fordoun'. f. 20 b.

11. Chronicon Rythmicum: the longer and later version of the metrical abbreviation of the Scotichronicon, with prose prologue. Prologue beg. 'Quoniam huius sequentis Scoticronicon voluminis prolixitas'; ends icorporum resurreccio et omnium retribucio'. The verses beg. 'Eiusque (sic, quisque) loqui gaudet validus de sanguine puro'. Followed by a genealogy of James II of Scotland ascending to Kenedus and Ine; beg. (f. 23 b) 'Recapitulacionem metricam' and ends 'Quod sibi concedat Christus. amen'. Succeeds the text in the Edinburgh Univ. MS., the first article in Harley MS. 712. Printed by Goodall, op. cit., ii, p. 521; the shorter version is from a MS. of the Scotch College of Paris, now in the Catholic College, Edinburgh, and is printed by Skene, op. cit., p. 332. The relationship of the two versions is discussed by Skene, p. lxix. f. 21.

12. 'Tractatus contra pestilenciam': the shorter form of the treatise of Jean de Bourgogne dit à la Barbe. See above, 12 G. IV, art. 9. Preceded by notes on pestilence from Isidore, Aristotle, Galen, &c. Prologue beg. 'Hic incipit notabilis tractatus editus per bonum phisicum Iohannem de Burdeus de medicina contra pestilenciam, et diuiditur in quattuor partes'. Treatise beg. (after rubric 'Defectus boni regiminis est occasio homini in. firmitatis') 'In prima parte dicit predictus clericus'; ends 'pestilenciam vlterius non timebit pro ista materia, vide vii li^o ca^o ix^o ' (the reference is to the Scotichronicon, f. 114 below). Other MSS. of this form are Sloane MSS. 7, f. 85 b, 405, f. 41 b, 433, f. 47. f. 24 b.

13. 'Epistola sancti Barnardi ad Ramundum militem de cura et modo rei familiaris et qualiter paterfamilias se debet habere utilius gubernando': the spurious epistle printed as ep. cccclvii of S. Bernard by Migne, Patr. Lat. clxxxii. 647. For other MSS. see above, 6 E. III, art. 16, where fuller details are given, and 12 E. XXI, art. 14. A translation into Scottish English, late i5th cent., has been printed by J. R. Lumby (Bernardus de cura, &c., E. E. T. Soc., 1870). Beg. 'Gracioso et felici militi Ramundo domino castri Ambrosii Barnardus in senium deductus salutem. Doceri a nobis petisti de cura et modo'. f. 25.

14. Gencalogical table of the descent of james II of Scotland, 'rex modernus' (1437-1460), 'Margarita dalphonissa Francie' and their five sisters, from S. Margaret through James I and Johanna, his queen. Found, after the text of the Scotichronicon, in the Edinb. Univ. MS. and in Harley MS. 712, but in the latter James III is styled 'rex modernus'. Printed by Hearne from the Harley MS. f. 26 b.

15. Genealogical table, with notes, of the descent from S. Louis of Henry VI, 'nunc regnantem in Anglia anno mccccxlii et etatis xx', and of Charles VII, 'nunc regnans in Francia', and the Dauphin Louis (afterwards Louis XI), 'qui nupcit Margaritam (sic) filie Iacobi regis Scotorum', to illustrate the English claim to the crown of France. Preface beg. 'Ad euidenciam iuris successionis in regno Francie' (printed by Goodall, op. cit., ii, p. 543). f. 27.

16. The Scotichronicon, headed 'Incipit prologus in librum Scoticronicon inchoatum per bone memorie dominum Iohannem de Fordoun capellanum ecclesie Aberdonensis, necnon continuatum compilatum et completum per eciam bone memorie venerabilem in Christo patrem Walterum Bower abbatem monasterii sancti Columbe, &c.': the expansion in xvi books by Bower of Fordun's Chronica gentis Scotorum (see description of Add. MS. 37223). An account of this MS. with a comparison of the text with that printed by Goodall, op. cit., and Harley MS. 712 (Schevez MS.) is given by D. Murray, op. cit. Bower's prologue beg. (f. 28) 'De. bitor sum, fateor'. It is followed by a list of the chapters of lib. i, at the end of which is the rubric 'Per sacre memorie Iohannem de Fordoun compilatus. Incipit liber Scoticronicon. usque sextum codicem laus sua conualuit. Hinc ad finem operis alter onus subiit'. (At the end of lib. vi, cap. 23, f. 103, are the words 'hucusque scriba clarus, cetera sunt scriptoris', see also verses quoted in art. 1.) Next are the verses 'Incipies opus hoc', &c., giving Fordun's name, followed by Fordun's 'prefaciuncula operis', beg. 'Sicut scribit Euodius' and ending 'condonentur'. Text beg. 'Ex variis quippe veterum scriptis cronographorum'; ends (f. 265) 'ad pastores (sic) transmittamus'. f. 28.

17. 'Tractatus et composicio inter reges Scocie et Norwagie facta super clameo Insularum et earum occasione': copy of the confirmation (29 July, 1426) by Eric, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and James I of Scotland of the final concord whereby Magnus IV of Norway ceded to Alexander III of Scotland the Sudreys or Western Isles and the Isle of Man (printed in Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, Record Comm. 1844, i, p. 78), 2 July, 1266. Preceded by the King of Norway's commission to his representatives, dated 16 Aug. 1425. The whole is printed by Hearne from this MS., Fordun, Oxford, 1722, iv, p. 1349. f. 265 b.

18. 'Legitur in nouis cronicis Anglorum per Henricum archidiaconum in hec uerba': brief extract from Henry of Huntingdon, lib. vi, ad inil. Beg. 'Predixit eciam eis quidam uir dei' (Hen. Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum, Rolls Ser., 1879, p. 173). An abbreviated version of the passage is given in the Scotichronicon, lib. iv, cap. 39 (f. 77, col. 2). Beneath Fairfax has written four verses 'Anglia te prodit tua gens, quia quilibet odit', &c., with references to passages in the Scotichronicon and other MSS. f. 267.

19. Prophecy of Merlin Silvester. Beg. 'Mortuo leone iusticie'; ends 'qui pacifico regno occidit'. See 5 F. XV, f. 3 b, 15 C. XVI, f. 184, and Harley MS. 1717, f. 250 b, &c. Beneath are references by Fairfax to similar passages in the Scotichronicon. f. 267 b.

20. Description of a good slave, headed by the rubric 'Seneca ad Lucilium, Attenditc, famuli, ut bene famulemini O'. Beg. 'Quoniam secundum apostolum propter transgressores'; ends 'Dum puer es, serui, si vis quod sint tibi scrui; Nam bene si seruis, non esse potes sine seruis'. f. 268.

21. 'De fide Christiana': the tract of Boethius printed, under the title Brevis fidei Christianae complexio, by Migne, Patr. Lat. lxiv. 1333. Beg. 'Christiana fides noui et veteris testamenti'; ends 'laus perpetua creatoris'. f. 268.

22. 'Incipit tractatus de formula honeste uite per Bernardum': one of the two tracts so entitled attributed to S. Bernard. A shorter version than that in 6 E. III, art. 46, omitting the concluding paragraphs' Beg. 'Petis a me, frater carissime, quod nunquam'; ends 'corona in domino'. Printed by Migne, clxxxiv. 1167. f. 269.

23. 'Epistula presbiteri Iohannis missa ad Impera. torem Remeon imperatorum (sic) Grecorum': the letter of Prester John to the Emperor Manuel Comnenus. See above, 12 C. VI, art. 5, and 13 A. XIV, art. 19, with which this MS. agrees. Beg. 'Presbiter Iohannes potentia et virtute dei . . . Nunciabatur apud maiestatem'; ends 'omni genere ciborum essemus repleti. amen,. For a Scottish English version see below, 17 D. xx, f. 310. f. 270.

24. List of General Councils from 'Consilium Ierosolimitanum apostolorum' to the Council of Chalcedon (A. D. 451). f. 271 b.

25. Moral precepts in verse. Beg. 'Viue deo, uiuas aliis, nunquam tibi soli'. f. 271 b.

26. Revelations of S. Bridget of Sweden: selected passages with references. Beg. 'Quamdiu anima cum corpore misericordia omnibus aperta est Brigitta li⁰ I^o c. xxi' (Revelationes beate Birgitte, Nürnberg, 1517, f. 16 b). f. 271 b.

Vellum; ff. 271 (for the number of missing folios see D. Murray op. cit., p. 28). 17¹/₂ in. x 12 in. XV cent. (circ. 1442). Gatherings normally of 10 leaves, with catchwords. Double columns, normally of 55 lines. Written in several hands, with rubrication. Plain coloured initials, alternately red and blue. Written at Paisley Abbey (f. 28, 'Iste liber iwt Sancti Iacobi et Sancti Mirini de Pasleto', cf. ff. 16, 51, 67, 215, 271 b). Belonged subsequently to Thomas, Lord Fairfax, whose signature, with date 1650, is on f. 15, and who has inserted notes throughout; and was either presented (so Stillingfleet, Originés Britannicae, xvii) or sold for £100 (so Casley, Catalogue of Royal MSS., ad loc.) by him to Charles II. Binding probably by Samuel Meam, in red morocco tooled; on the sides a large oblong panel enclosing a smaller one, both with the crowned cipher of Charles II at the comers, the cipher being repeated in the compartments of the back. See D. Murray, op. cit., p. 43. Not in CMA.