Source:NRS catalogue entry C2
More actions
| NRS, C2 | |
|---|---|
| Originally written 1363-2008 |
| National Records of Scotland catalogue | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1363-2008 |
| Title | Great Seal Register (Registrum Magni Sigilli) |
| Description | After 1596 grants in perpetuity only were recorded in this register others being recorded in the Paper Register (C3). Prior to 1806 the date of commencement of a volume is normally taken to be that of the first entry and its termination that of the latest item recorded. Volumes dated between 1493 and 1809 are generally bound in two or more parts. The contents of the register up to 1668 are printed in 'Registrum Magni Sigilli' (RMS), the entries from 1424 onwards being calendared in chronological order.
Dating and arrangement of early Great Seal Registers (C2/2-C2/6): The absence of dates of recording in the Great Seal Registers makes it difficult to determine the exact dates at which they were compiled. Prior to 1700 the entries rarely appear in chronological order and it is not uncommon to find charters which were not recorded until long after the date on which they were granted. It is, however, obvious that the registers must show the chronological sequence of recording. Thus, while other entries may bear prior dates, a register volume cannot have been compiled any earlier than the date of the first entry, and similarly the date of completion is fixed approximately by that of the latest entry, even though this may not be the last item in the volume. These general rules cannot be applied in every instance. If the date of the first entry is considerably before that of the second or subsequent entries it must be presumed to be a case of late registration. On the other hand, it was fairly common practice to interpolate additional entries in blank spaces in the registers both before and after completion of a volume, but such interpolations are often recognisable by discrepancies either in date or in the handwriting of the entries concerned. Special problems arise in the case of the registers for the period 1424 - 1466, which have not been preserved in their original form. Not only are contents considerably disarranged but also some volumes are made up of fragments of two or more original registers. In "Registrum Magni Sigilli" (vol. ii) the entries are simply printed in chronological order, without any explanation of the state of the manuscript record. References are given to the volume and number of the original entry, but the system of numbering was introduced at a comparatively late date and seems to have been the work of John Corse (fl.1724). The foliation of the volumes is earlier, probably 16th century, but in the case of vols. 3-5 the old foliation was partially lost or obscured when the volumes were repaired and inlaid in 1808 and was replaced by continuous pencil foliation. Where comparison is possible it shows that some folios have been lost since the 16th century but that the contents have remained in the same order. This is borne out by a collation of the rubrics with the lists of contents of the registers in the "Index Cartarum' (c.1580), which shows that, with minor exceptions, the registers were then in the same state as at present. Though the evidence does not permit any firm conclusions to be drawn, it seems probable that there were originally two series of registers, one being on parchment, the other on paper. The 'paper' series may have been draft and certain surviving portions suggest that it could also have served as a record of dues payable for registration or of compositions on charters. There is some evidence that the 'paper' series may have included items which would not have appeared in the 'parchment' series but it was not a separate record like the 'Paper Register' (C.3), established in 1596. It is obvious that at some date prior to 1580 the greater part of the 'parchment' series was destroyed and that the loss was partially made good by binding up the remainder with the 'paper' series, itself fragmentary. The following notes show the composition of each volume of the existing record. In conclusion it must be noted that, although the 'parchment' series is extant for almost the whole of James III's reign some of the volumes show signs of careless rebinding, their contents being clearly no longer in their original order. The catalogue entries for the five individual volumes C2/2-C2/6 contain further detailed descriptions of their dating and arrangement. |
| Reference | C2 (link to catalog entry) |
| Repository | National Records of Scotland |
| Access status | Open |
| Location | Off site |
| Level | Series |
Documents
Documents found in this collection or volume.
Sources
- "Catalogue search". NRS Online Public Catalogue. National Records of Scotland. 9 Nov 2007.