Chartulary produced in Scotland, known as the 'Registrum Nigrum' of the Tironensian Abbey of Arbroath. The work was compiled in the 15th century, probably the early part thereof, and is written in a variety of hands. The material in the manuscript covers the years 1288 to circa 1500, with the bulk of the material belonging to the later part of this time span. The manuscript is a register of leases, recording the administration of the lands, churches and tithes of the abbey. For a full list of the charters see the Bannatyne Club edition.

On folios 1r-7r is a contemporary table of contents.

Folio 7v is blank, but has been lined and ruled.

Folios 8r-51r contains charters of the abbots from the 13th century to the mid 15th century, with the bulk of material being later in date.

Folio 51v is blank, but has been lined and ruled.

Folios 52r-170v contain a series of charters and deeds entered contemporaneously up to 1502, some of which are in Scots.

Each document is introduced by a contemporary rubric in plain ink and each has also been numbered with Arabic numerals, possibly by a 17th-century hand.

Spaces have frequently been left for initials, and when these are provided they are plain pen-flourished initials. From folio 106r onwards there is a sporadic change in decoration style, with red being used for underlining, stroking letters, and initial decoration.

There is evidence throughout of contemporary repairs to the vellum.

Each folio has been lined and ruled in red on the recto and verso sides.

A horizontal catchword is present on folio 151v.

There are three sets of foliation in the manuscript. A scribal foliation is given in the centre of the upper margin in Roman numerals. This begins on folio 7v with 'i' and continues thereafter on the recto side of each folio. Folios 39, 40, 50, and 51 of this foliation have been lost. There is a further foliation in Arabic numerals which runs in the top margin, possibly early 17th-century. There appears to have been a jump in this foliation with the ommission of folio 87, as the scribal foliation does not skip over this section. A modern library foliation has since superseded both of the faulty foliations. This means that the missing folios were located between what is now folios 45 and 46; and 54 and 55.

Pricking is occasionally evident for the horizontal lines, and seldom for the vertical lines.