Some Extralinguistic Evidence for the Irish Provenance of Longleat House, Marquess of Bath, MS 29, and Oxford, Bodleian Library MS E Mus 232

Abstract

Abstract: An Irish connection for Longleat House, Marquess of Bath, MS 29 and Oxford, Bodleian Library MS e Mus 232 has long been supposed, primarily on linguistic grounds. However, in Ogilvie-Thomson’s E.E.T.S edition of the Rollean prose and verse in MS Longleat 29 (1988)—the most extensive discussion of this material yet published—this assumed Irish provenance was challenged. This article presents some extra-linguistic evidence in support of the Irish provenance of both manuscripts, which has been suggested on linguistic grounds, and appends a transcription of a previously unpublished devotional item fr om MS Longleat 29.

Keywords: Medieval Ireland; Richard Rolle; Longleat House Marquess of Bath, MS 29; Oxford, Bodleian Library MS e Mus 232; Devotional Literature; Irish Hagiography; Medieval Hiberno-English.