'The Carver Choirbook', a sixteenth-century manuscript also known as the 'Scone Antiphonary'.

Item

Identifier: Adv.MS.5.1.15

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Choirbook produced in Scotland containing polyphonic settings for Masses, Magnificats, motets, with other various fragments. The manuscript contains works by Carver himself and by other composers of the period, including Dufay, Nesbett, Lambe, Cornysh (Senior), and Fayrfax. The volume was previously thought to have been copied by Carver at the Abbey of Scone, but scholars now agree that it was probably written at the Chapel Royal at Stirling. Not all of the compositions are complete and the manuscript is wanting leaves in several places.

The manuscript was written in the first half of the 16th century. Woods Preece has dated the earliest entry from 1503 (folio 119v), with another dated to 1508 (folios 70v-78v) and then 1513 (folio 84v). The bulk of the volume was probably compiled between 1513 and 1520, with some additions as late as 1546. Woods Preece gives the date of 1565 for the latest addition, the 'Ave gloriosa virginum regina' (folio 178v). For a full discussion of the complications in dating the manuscript see Stevens (1959, Musica Disciplina), Elliott (1960), Ross (1993), and Woods Preece (2000).

Parts of the manuscript were written and signed by Carver himself, with other hands also evident. Kenneth Elliott identified three types of handwriting in the manuscript, and suggested that they were all by the same person, with the handwriting developing over a number of years. Isobel Woods Preece has identified five different hands, which she has labelled A-E. She notes that hands A-D are similar in style, but hand E is smaller and has a different aspect. She states that hands B and D belong to Carver. Hand A can be seen on folios 1r-3r; Hand B on folios 4r-6r, 7v-15r, 178v-180r; Hand C on folios 16v-51r, parts of 78v-81r, 81v-108r, 190rv-135r, 136v-149r, 150r-157v, 160rv; Hand D on folios 52v-69r, 70v-78r, parts of 78v-81r, 158v-159v, 161v-169v, 171v-177r; and Hand E on folios 170v-171r, 177v.

The notation is void mensural in black and brown ink, and the staves have also been drawn in black and brown ink. Each folio, recto and verso, has been lined and ruled.

There are large decorated initials throughout, mostly in red, but also in blue and green towards the end of the work. Yellow wash is also evident on some initials. The ascenders and descenders occasionally form leaves or other decorative elements. Several of the initials are decorated with faces and grotesques.

The contents of the manuscript are as follows:

Typed contents list by D. W. Stevens, 1950. Folios ir-iir.

Anonymous, 'Vos quoque sancti patriarche', for 6 voices. Folios 1r-3r.

Anonymous fragments including: isolated treble part; isolated tenor part marked 'Agnus Dei L'homme armé', for 1 voice; 'Miserere', for 3 voices. Folio 3v

Robert Carver, 'Missa Pater creator omnium', for 4 voices. Folios 4r-6r.

Folios 6v-7r are stuck together.

Robert Carver, 'O bone Jesu', for 19 voices. Folios 7v-15r.

Folios 15v-16r are stuck together.

Anonymous, 'Missa Rex virginum amator', for 4 voices. Folios 16v-26r.

Guillaume Dufay, 'Missa L'homme armé' (up to 'et apostolicam'), for 4 voices. Folios 26v-36r.

Woods Preece has identified an anonymous fragment, possibly for 2 voices, on folio 36v. Folios 36v-37r are stuck together.

Guillaume Dufay, 'Missa L'homme armé' (Sanctus to end), for 4 voices. Folios 37v-42r.

Anonymous, 'Missa Deus creator omnium', for 4 voices. Folios 42v-51r.

Folios 51v-52r are stuck together.

Robert Carver, 'Missa L'homme armé', for 4 voices. Folios 52v-66r.

Robert Carver, 'Gaude flore virginali', for 5 voices. Folios 66v-69r.

Folios 69v-70r are stuck together.

Robert Carver, 'Missa Dum sacrum mysterium', for 10 voices. Folios 70v-96r.

Robert Carver, 'Missa Sine nomine', for 6 voices. Folios 96v-108r.

Woods Preece has identified an anonymous fragment, possibly for 3 voices on folio 108v. Folios 108v-109r are stuck together.

Anonymous, Magnificat, for 5 voices. Folios 109v-114r.

Anonymous, Magnificat, for 4 voices. Folios 114v-119r.

John Nesbett, Magnificat, for 5 voices. Folios 119v-123r.

Anonymous, Magnificat, for 4 voices. Folios 123v-127r.

Walter Lambe, Magnificat, for 5 voices. Folios 127v-132r.

Anonymous, Magnificat, for 5 voices. Folios 132v-135r.

Woods Preece has identified empty staves on folio 135v. Folios 135v-136r are stuck together.

William Cornysh, 'Salve regina', for 5 voices. Folios 136v-141r.

Anonymous, 'Salve regina' for 4 voices. Folios 141v-149v.

Anonymous, 'Anima mea liquefacta est', for 5 voices. Folios 150r-151r.

Robert Fayrfax, 'Eterne laudis lilium', for 5 voices. Folios 151v-155r.

Robert Fayrfax, 'Ave Dei patris filia' (opening), for 5 voices. Folios 155v-157v.

Robert Carver, 'Missa a pestilentia' (opening), for 5 voices. Folio 158r.

Robert Carver, 'Missa Sine nomine' (Credo), for 3 voices. Folio 159r.

Robert Fayrfax, 'Ave Dei patris filia' (end), for 5 voices. Folios 160v-161r.

Robert Carver, 'Missa a pestilentia' (remainder), for 5 voices. Folios 161v-170r.

Robert Carver, 'Missa Sine nomine' (remainder), for 3 voices. Folios 170v-177r.

Anonymous, fragment: setting of Psalm 1, for 2 voices. Folio 175r.

Robert Carver, fragment: first and last pages of 'O bone Jesu', for 19 voices. Folios 177v-178r.

Anonymous, 'Ave gloriosa virginum regina', for 5 voices. Folios 178v-180r.

It has been noted that the hand and the ornament in the 'Dunkeld Music Book' (Edinburgh Univeristy Library, MS 64) closely resemble those in the Carver Choirbook.

Dates

Creation: 16th century

Creator

Carver, Robert (Composer) (Composer, Person)
Tytler, Alexander Fraser, Lord Woodhouselee (Historian and Lawyer) (Former owner, Person)
Chapel Royal of St. Mary and St. Michael (Stirling) (Former owner, Organization)
Dufay, Guillaume (Composer) (Composer, Person)
Fayrfax, Robert (Composer) (Composer, Person)
Nesbett, John (Composer) (Composer, Person)
Cornysh, William, Senior (Composer) (Composer, Person)
Lambe, Walter (Composer) (Composer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Access restricted. Please contact the division of Archives & Manuscript Collections to arrange access (manuscripts@nls.uk). A digital surrogate is available.

Conditions Governing Use

Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.

Extent

1 Volumes ; 39.3cm x 30cm x 5.6cm

Language of Materials

Latin

Additional Description

Arrangement

ii + 173 folios + 6 modern paper flyleaves. The modern foliation in the manuscript runs to 180, as the leaves stuck together were treated as two separate leaves in each case.

Due to the loss of leaves, the misplacement of folios, and the pasting together of several folios, the exact collation of this manuscript remains unclear.

Folios 6/7, 15/16, 36/37, 51/52, 69/70, 108/109, and 135/136 are pasted together. According to Elliott (1960), folio 159 is misplaced and should come between folio 172 and folio 173; and folio 158 should come between folio 161 and 162.

The manuscript was not foliated when examined by Frere and Borland, but was foliated at some point in the 1950s.

Collation as recorded by Catherine Borland, prior to rebinding:

a¹⁶, b¹⁰, c²⁰, d²⁰, e¹⁰, f²⁰, g⁸, h²², i¹⁶, k³¹(?)

Collation as recorded by Walter Frere, prior to rebinding:

a¹⁶, b²⁰, c²⁰, d²⁰, e¹⁰, f²⁰, g⁸, h²², j¹⁶, k¹⁴, l¹⁷

Collation as recorded by The Production and Reading of Music Sources:

i⁶ (Folios 1-6)

ii⁹ (Folios 7-15 [+2 +1 at end])

iii¹⁵ (Folios 16-30 [+1 at end])

iv¹⁸ (Folios 31-48)

v³ (Folios 49-51 [bifolium + single leaf])

vi¹⁸ (Folios 52-69)

vii¹⁴ (Folios 70-83)

viii¹⁷ (Folios 84-100 [+ 1 at end])

ix² (Folios 101-102)

x⁶ (Folios 103-108)

xi²⁶ (Folios 109-134)

xii¹⁴ (Folios 135-148)

xiii⁹ (Folios 149-157)

xiv²⁰ (Folios 158-177)

xv³ (Folios 178-180 [three single leaves])

Denis Stevens, Kenneth Elliott, and Isobel Woods Preece have provided detailed, and differing, accounts of the collation of the manuscript. For these see Stevens (1959, Musica Disciplina), Elliott (1960) and Woods Preece (2000).

Custodial History

The manuscript was partly written by, and probably in the use of, Robert Carver. Throughout the manuscript there are various inscriptions of his, as well as his alias, 'Arnat' or 'Arnot'. These inscriptions can be found on folios 5v, 8r, 53r, 66r, 69r, 70v, 108r, 158r, and 170r. Those on folios 5v and 70v have transcriptions of the original inscription by a later hand. The secondary scholarship discusses the difficulties of dating the manuscript by these various inscriptions and also provides suggestions for Carver's use of the alias Arnot.

Although Carver was a canon of the Augustinian Priory at Scone, scholars now agree that it is instead probable that the work was copied at the Chapel Royal dedicated to St. Mary and St. Michael in Stirling.

There is an inscription in the capital on folio 149v which reads: 'Magister Andrea H.' This is in a hand near-contemporary to the manuscript, but this individual's relationship to the manuscript is unclear.

The manuscript was later in the possession of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee. In Lieutenant-General George Henry Hutton’s copy of Robert Keith's 'Catalogue of the Bishops...', there is a note in the hand of Tytler attesting to his owernship of the manuscript. There is a further note in the 'Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland' which confirms this.

It is unclear when exactly the manuscript was acquired by the Library, but it is listed in the 1819 catalogue of the Library of the Faculty of Advocates. There is an ownership inscription in the gutter margin of folio 1r for the Library, as well as Library stamps throughout the volume.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Presented, 1925, by the Faculty of Advocates to the nation on the foundation of the National Library of Scotland.

Existence and Location of Copies

Microfilms available:

Mf.Sec.MSS.5

Mf.Sec.MSS.58

A digital surrogate is available to view here.

Bibliography

'Angels, Nobles and Unicorns: Art and Patronage in Medieval Scotland. A hanbook published in conjuction with an exhibition held at the National Museum of Scotland, August 12 - September 26, 1982' (Edinburgh, 1982), page 79, number E37.

Borland, C. R. 'Catalogue of Mediaeval Manuscripts in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh', 4 Volumes. (Unpublished manuscript, Edinburgh, 1906-1908). Volume I, folios 115-117. NLS Reference: FR.198a/1.

Briquet, C. M. 'Les Filigranes. Dictionnaire historique des marques de papier des leur apparition vers 1282 jusqu'en 1600', 4 Volumes (Leipzig, 1923).

'Census-Catalogue of manuscript sources of polyphonic music 1400-1550, compiled by the university of Illinois musicological archives for renaissance and manuscript studies' Volume 1 (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1979), pages 202-203.

'The Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music', online resource hosted by the University of Oxford: https://www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/1757/#/

Elliott, K. 'The Carver Choir-Book' in Music and Letters, Volume 41, Number 4 (October, 1960), pages 349-359.

Elliott, K. (ed.) 'Musica Scotica: Editions of Early Scottish Music. I: The complete works of Robert Carver and Two Anonymous Masses' (Glasgow, 1996).

Farmer, H. G. 'A History of Music in Scotland' (London, 1947).

'Folio Catalogue of Manuscripts: Miscellaneous Manuscripts' (Unpublished manuscript, Edinburgh [after 1837]), folio 14. NLS Reference: FR.195.

Frere, W. H. 'Bibliotheca Musico-Liturgica: A Descriptive Hand List of the Musical and Latin-Liturgical MSS. of the Middle Ages Preserved in the Libraries of Great Britain and Ireland' (London, 1932), Volume II page 53, number 689.

Grove, G. 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians', 3rd edition (London, 1927), Volume 1, pages 574-575.

Holmes, S. M. 'Catalogue of Liturgical Books and Fragments in Scotland before 1560', Innes Review, Volume 62, Number 2 (Autumn, 2011), pages 127-212. Pages 173-4, number 132.

Ker, N. R. (ed.) 'Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: A List of Surviving Books' Second edition (London, 1964), page 177.

McRoberts, D. 'Catalogue of Scottish Medieval Liturgical Books and Fragments' (Glasgow, 1953), page 20, number 126.

'Musica Scotica: An Exhibition of Scottish Music Books 1500-1700' (Edinburgh, 1957), number 1.

National Library of Scotland, MS 21197. Lieutenant-General George Henry Hutton’s copy of 'A large new historical Catalogue of the Bishops of the Several Sees within the Kingdom of Scotland Down to the Year 1688' by Bishop Robert Keith (Edinburgh, 1755), folio 140v.

'The Production and Reading of Music Sources'. Online resource hosted by King's College, London: http://www.proms.ac.uk/ms/71/

Ross, D. J. 'Musick Fyne: Robert Carver and the Art of Music in Sixteenth Century Scotland' (Edinburgh, 1993).

'Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry, Glasgow (1911): Palace of History Catalogue of Exhibits' (Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, 1911), page 463, number 11; page 1056, number 16a.

'Scottish Manuscripts: National Library of Scotland' (Edinburgh, 1967), page 11, number 51.

Stevens, D. 'The Manuscript Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv.MS.5.1.15', Musica Disciplina, Volume 13 (1959), pages 155-167.

Stevens, D. (ed.) 'Robert Carver: Collected Works. Corpus mensurabilis musicae.' (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1959).

'Summary Catalogue of the Advocates' Manuscripts' (Edinburgh, 1971), page 108, number 1400; page 113, number 1465.

'Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland' (Edinburgh, 1792), Volume I, page 483. See note for information on William Tytler`s possession of the manuscript.

'Treasures of the National Library of Scotland' (Edinburgh, 1979), page 19, number 55.

'Trésors des Bibliothèques d'Écosse' (Bruxelles, 1963), page 93, number 170.

Turbet, R. 'Scotland's Greatest Composer' in J. D. McClure and M. R. G. Spiller (eds.) 'Bryght Lanternis' (Aberdeen, 1989), pages 48-55.

Woods, I. 'Carver Choirbook', (Unpublished PhD thesis, Princeton University, 1985). NLS Reference: Mc.644.

Woods Preece, I. 'Our awin Scottis use: Music in the Scottish Church up to 1603' (Glasgow, 2000), especially pages 101-200.

Physical Description

Paper.

In 1957 the volume was taken down, repaired, and rebound in brown morocco leather with marbled endpapers. The spine has raised bands and is blind tooled. There are remnants of gilt on the edges of some of the leaves.

The faulty sequence of folios was not rectified during rebinding.

Woods Preece has identified three sets of watermarks within the manuscript. Two are of a ‘p’ form with a forked descender, similar to Briquet numbers 8539 (Amsterdam, 1509) and 8615 (Barl-de-Duc, 1475-77) and the third pair is a pot, similar to Briquet number 12619 (Paris, 1483).