Boece's Chronicles (Lindsay Continuation)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0103 MS ANGL 2
Held at	: University College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/special-coll ›
Full title	: Boece's Chronicles (Lindsay Continuation)
Date(s)	: 1600
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 volume containing 150 leaves
Name of creator(s)	: Unknown

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Robert Lindsay: born, possibly in 1500, at Pitscottie in the parish of Ceres, Fifeshire; Scottish historian; a cadet of the principal family of Lindsays, Earls of Crawford, and probably a descendant of Patrick, fourth Lord Lindsay of the Byres; according to the `Privy Seal Register', received a grant of escheat, 1552; a service in the Douglas charter-chest proves that he was alive in 1562; probably died c1565; his History includes the period of Scottish history, from the death of James I to that of James III, about which very little is known; its preface states the author's intention of continuing what had been left unwritten by Hector Boece and John Bellenden, the period after James I; the History includes narrative passages, but also other brief entries, and contains inaccuracies and confusion as to dates; Pitscottie's History was first published by the printer Robert Freebairn, 1728, and again in 1749 and 1778, and in 1814 (2 volumes) by Graham Dalyell; the History was used as a source by Sir Walter Scott and other writers.

Hector Boece (or Boethius): born at Dundee, Scotland, c1465; historian and humanist; educated at Dundee and the University of Paris; a friend of Desiderius Erasmus; chief adviser to William Elphinstone, bishop of Aberdeen, in the foundation of the University of Aberdeen (King's College, Aberdeen); first Principal of the University; lectured on divinity; received a pension from the Scottish court, 1527-1534; a canon of Aberdeen; vicar of Tullynessle; later rector of Tyrie; author of the Latin history Scotorum historiae a prima gentis origine (The History and Chronicles of Scotland), 1527; the work, based on legendary sources, glorified the Scottish nation; the History had wide currency abroad in a French translation; Boece died, 1536.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Manuscript volume, 1600, containing a copy of the translation, into Scots, of Hector Boece's Chronicles of Scotland, continued by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
Scots dialect

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Open.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Normal copyright restrictions apply.

Finding aids:

Dorothy K Coveney, A Descriptive Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of University College London (London, 1935); handlist at University College London Special Collections.

Archival Information

Archival history:

The volume bears the Ex libris of the Earl of Kinnoul, Dupplin Castle, Perth.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to University College London by H W Brown in 1912.

Allied Materials

Related material:

University College London Special Collections also holds a 16th-century copy of Hector Boece's Chronicles of Scotland, translated into Scots by John Bellenden (Ref: MS ANGL 1).

The National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, holds a manuscript of Lindsay's History and Chronicles of Scotland (Ref: Crawford Papers).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; National Register of Archives. Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jul 2001