Fragments used as the binding material for a 16th century MS of the 'Regem maiestatem' (laws of Scotland); circumstantial evidence suggests they may include music from Inverness song-school and parish church. Copied by at least 4 scribes.
- Leaves A-F are from a secular breviary of the Sarum Use, probably of the 15th century; leaves C & D each consist of two fragments; leaf F has 2 associated paper fragments of chant of ?16th centruy date.
- G consists of 5 fragments of 16th century date (a letter of 1555, a marriage contract c1547, and 3 small paper fragments
- H, J, K consist of 4, 4 & 5 paper fragments of polyphony
- L contains polyphony and a page of a printed Latin grammar of the 16th century
- M-Z are 16 further sheets of Latin grammar with marginalia
- AA & BB are 2 leaves from a large canon law MS
The leaves were also given folio numbers: A=1/11, B=2/10, C=3/9, D=4/5/8, E=6/7, F=6/9.
The complex of fragments J/K/L contain 6 separate faburden settings of 'Laudate pueri Dominum', and the 3rd fr. of H contains a 4vv faburden setting of 'Christe qui lux es'
The legal volume was given to St Benedict's Abbey, Fort Augustus, by an Inverness solicitor, Capt. William Mackay, c1940; by 1953 when catalogued the binding fragments had been separated from the legal MS. In 1973 the fragments were separated, mounted and photographed at the Scottish Records Office. Clefs and signatures on many items were lost when they were re-used for binding.
In 1995 the Trustees of the Abbey deposited its archives with the National Library for Scotland as the Abbey closed; the archive was purchased by the NLS in 2000.