Page:Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus 2.djvu/33

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xxvii
The Stowe Missal.

15. Incantationes Sangallenses[1].

Codex Sangallensis nr. 1395, which is made up of a collection of fragments of ancient manuscripts made by von Arx when librarian, contains (pp. 418, 19) a single leaf of an ancient Irish manuscript of the eighth or ninth century. The verso of the leaf contains the Irish spells written by three hands. The first hand wrote the first three spells down to fortchiunn[2]. The second hand is much coarser; from it comes the spell Tessurc–forsate, A third hand added focertar–aleth, words which indicate the application of some form of incantation which is not described.

16. The Stowe Missals[3].

The Stowe Missal is a small manuscript of 67 leaves, 5⅝ inches long by 4½ broad, now in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. The principal divisions of the volume are: (1) Extracts from St John’s Gospel (ff. 1–11); (2) the Missal (ff. 12–65); (3) the Irish treatise on the Eucharist (ff. 65 b–67 a); (4) the Irish Spells (fo. 67 b). Section (1) forms a separate quire by itself, so that there is no evidence when it was attached to the rest of the book.

[4]In the liturgical portion the discrimination of the original hands is far from easy. In the first part of it, the Ordinary and Canon of the Mass (ff. 12–38), two hands seem to be found, one (A¹) extending from fo. 12 to fo. 28, the other (A²) beginning at fo. 29. Both are bad and decadent hands, and the difficulty is to know whether this is due, as often, to lateness of date or to the inexperience of the scribes. A² probably continues to fo. 46, where the Missal proper ends. The Ordo Baptismi (ff. 47–65a) begins in a hand (B) akin to A¹, but probably not the same. Apparently several hands occur in it, but it is impossible to determine exactly the

  1. Ed. Keller, Mittheilungen der antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich, Bd vii. tab. vii. p. 75; Zeuss, Gramm. Celt.² 949; Zimmer, Gloss. Hib. 270 sq.; Windisch, Berichte der Königl. Sächs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, 1890, ss. 92, 93. And see Verzeichniss der Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek von St. Gallen, Halle, 1875, ss. 462–463. The text is here edited from a photograph.
  2. The words Prechnytφcan–κnaatyonibas are written in peculiar half Greek characters.
  3. The Irish portions have been edited by W. S., KZ. xxvi. 497 sq., and by MacCarthy, Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, xxvii. 135 sq. Cf. also O’Conor, Stowe Catalogue; Todd, Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, xxvii.; Warren, The Academy, Feb. 8, 1879, Jan. 1, 1881, and Oct. 20, 1894; Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church, 198 sqq.; Plummer, KZ. xxvii. 441 sqq.; Zimmer, KZ. xxviii. 376 sqq. Specimens of the script will be found in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, xxvii. plate vi.
  4. For these palaeographical notes we are indebted to Dr Kenyon, who through the liberality of the Council of the Royal Irish Academy was able to examine the manuscript at the British Museum.

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