Book of Deer
Encyclopedia
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
from Old Deer
Old Deer
Old Deer a parish and village in the district of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The population as of 1901 was 4,313. The village lies on the Deer or South Ugie Water, 10.1 miles west of Peterhead, and two miles from Mintlaw station on the Great North of Scotland Railway Company's branch line...
, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
. It is most famous for containing the earliest surviving Gaelic literature from Scotland. The origin of the book is uncertain, however, it may be the oldest surviving manuscript produced in Scotland (although see Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
), and is notable for having originated in what is now considered a Lowland
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
area. The book has 86 folios and measures 54 mm by 107 mm. It is in a modern binding. It is written on vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
in brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
ink.
The Book of Deer has been in the ownership of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
's library since 1715, when the library of the Bishop of Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
and Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
(East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
) was presented to the university by King George I. Prior to this is it is likely that the book was in the possession of the headmaster of St Paul's School, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Contents
The Latin text contains portions of the Gospels of MatthewGospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
and Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
, a portion of an Office for the Visitation of the Sick, the complete text of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
, and the Apostles' Creed
Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
. It ends with a colophon
Colophon (publishing)
In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...
in Old Irish. The Gospel texts are based on the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
but contain some peculiarities unique to Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
Gospel books. The texts are written in an Irish minuscule text, apparently by a single scribe
Scribe
A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...
. Although the text and the script of the manuscript place it squarely in the tradition of the Irish Pocket Gospel, scholars have argued that the manuscript was produced in Scotland.
Marginalia
Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
include an account of the founding of the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
at Deer by St Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
and St Drostan
Drostan
Saint Drostan , also Drustan, Dustan, and Throstan, was the founder and abbot of the monastery of Old Deer in Aberdeenshire. His relics were translated to the church at New Aberdour and his holy well lies nearby. Saint Drostan's day is July 11.-Biography:A Scottish abbot who flourished about A.D....
, records of five land grants to the monastery, and a record of an immunity from payment of certain dues granted to the monastery. There is also a copy of a Latin deed granted to the monastery by David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
protecting the monastery from "all lay service and improper exaction." The Gaelic texts were written by as many as five different hands. These represent the earliest surviving use of Gaelic in Scotland and are important for the light they shed on the development of Gaelic in Scotland.
Illumination
The manuscript is illuminated. It has a complete and well thought out illumination program. There are four full page Evangelist portraitEvangelist portrait
Evangelist portraits are a specific type of miniature included in ancient and mediæval illuminated manuscript Gospel Books, and later in Bibles and other books, as well as other media. Each Gospel of the Four Evangelists, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, may be prefaced by a portrait of...
s. Each portrait faces a page of text surrounded by a border of interlace
Interlace (visual arts)
In the visual arts, interlace is a decorative element found in medieval art. In interlace, bands or portions of other motifs are looped, braided, and knotted in complex geometric patterns, often to fill a space. Islamic interlace patterns and Celtic knotwork share similar patterns, suggesting a...
. Each of these text pages has a large decorated initial. The book opens with a full page miniature of the four evangelists and closes with two facing pages each also with a full page miniature of the evangelists. The final text of John ends with a half page miniature of two men. There are small decorated initial letters throughout the text. There are also ten pages, all in the final half of the book, with marginal drawings of men, animals, or simple doodles.
Provenance
The manuscript derives its name from the monastery of Deer, mentioned in the Gaelic texts and the Latin Charter of King David I. Unfortunately, the foundation at Deer has left no other trace of its existence, although a Cistercian monastery, founded nearby in 1219, owned some of the lands mentioned in the Gaelic texts. The manuscript came to Cambridge University Library in 1715 when the library of John MooreJohn Moore (Bishop of Ely)
John Moore was an English cleric, scholar, and book collector. He was bishop of Norwich and bishop of Ely ....
, Bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
, was purchased by King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
and presented to the University. It is not known how the manuscript came to be in the library of Bishop Moore, but some suspect it may have been looted during the Wars of Scottish Independence
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
in the late 13th century to early 14th century.
Primary sources
- MacBain, AlexanderAlexander MacbainAlexander Macbain was a Scottish philologist, best known today for An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language .-Early life and education:...
(ed. and tr.). "The Book of Deer." Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 11 (1885): 137-166. Available from the Internet Archive - Stuart, J. (ed.). The Book of Deer. Edinburgh: The Spalding Club, 1869. Including translations by Whitley Stokes. Available from the Internet Archive
- Jackson, K.H. (ed. and tr.). The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer. The Osborn Bergin Memorial Lecture 1970. Cambridge, 1972. Edition and translation (pp. 30-6) available from CELT
Further reading
- Forsythe, Katherine. Studies on the Book of Deer. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008. ISBN 978185182569