ONE of the most important documents in the history of Scotland, and especially the Highlands, has been bought for the nation.
The National Library of Scotland yesterday announced that it had been the buyer of the original manuscript of the Chronicle Of Fortingall for £25,000 at an online auction in Edinburgh last month.
The 16th-century document was contained in the £260,000 sale of the property of the Earls of Breadalbane and Holland from their ancestral home, Taymouth Castle.
Written in Gaelic, Latin and Scots, the 36-page chronicle is the companion work to the Book of the Dean of Lismore, the earliest surviving collection of Gaelic poetry compiled in Scotland. Research and evidence shows the two manuscripts were almost certainly compiled by members of the same MacGregor family.
As it is written in three languages, some people think of it as the Scottish equivalent of the Rosetta Stone – the carved column which first enabled the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics from ancient Greek when it was found in 1799.
READ MORE: Brexit and education cuts threaten to make Scottish archaeology history
Dr Martin MacGregor, Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, explained: “The Chronicle of Fortingall is a highly significant manuscript which provides insight into public life in the Highlands in the later Middle Ages. It is an important source for the history of the Highlands – social, political, cultural, economic and religious.
“It also has great linguistic importance as it embodies the interplay of Latin, Scots and Gaelic as written languages in then Gaelic-speaking Scotland."
The National Library said that they had bought the manuscript named The Chronicle Of Fortingall by Cosmo Innes and published by him under that name in The Black Book Of Taymouth: With Other Papers From The Breadalbane Charter Room (T Constable: Edinburgh 1855).
The library added: “At that time, it belonged with the private family papers of the Earls of Breadalbane, held at Taymouth Castle by Kenmore, at the east end of Loch Tay in Highland Perthshire.
When at various points during the 20th century these papers were transferred to what is now the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, where they are catalogued as the Breadalbane Muniments, this manuscript was not among them. It is supposed it remained with the family until now.”
The Chronicle is important because of its very close connection to the Book of the Dean of Lismore, and its potential to add to the knowledge of the Book of the Dean of Lismore’s genesis, contents and compilers.
It is also very important as a source for the history of the Highlands – social, political, cultural, economic, religious – in the later middle ages.
The manuscript was compiled at Fortingall, at the mouth of Glen Lyon in Highland Perthshire, near the eastern end of Loch Tay. It is written in several hands and was compiled between 1554 and 1579, although it may have begun earlier.
One of the compilers records that he said his first mass in 1531 began to serve the cure at the church of Fortingall in 1532 and acknowledged the chief of the MacGregors. He may be the principal compiler, and further identified with Dubhghall (Dougall) MacGregor, on record as vicar of Fortingall in 1544.
The author reveals continuing Catholic allegiance and hostility to the Scottish Reformation brought into law in 1560. Contents include lists in Latin of Kings of Scots and notes on their reigns and a list of battles from Bannockburn (1314) to Flodden (1513), also in Latin.
It records the deaths of prominent men and women in the Highlands from 1390 to 1579, written in Latin and Scots.
There is also a Gaelic poem written in a writing system based on Middle Scot, poetry in Middle Scots by Robert Henryson and William Dunbar and verses, proverbs and aphorisms in Latin – plus miscellaneous short prose texts in Latin and Scots covering everything from the size and divisions of Ireland to medicine and cures, religion and belief, and inebriation.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel