Chapter XIV - The Monastic Chronicler

Summary

But, it may be asked, How about the chronicles? Father Barrett takes this whole question for granted; and Canon Bellesheim, upon whom he depends so greatly, generalizes on almost equally slender evidence. He writes:

Three kinds of register-books appear to have been kept in every Scottish monastery. The first was the chronicle, or general register, in which were entered year by year the various events of interest and importance that occurred. A few specimens of these annals, compiled previous to the fatal year 1291, in which Edward I of England seized and carried off the historical records of Scotland, have been preserved to us. Among them are the ancient Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, the Chronicles of Holy Cross and of Melrose, the Book of Paisley, and a fragment of the Chronicle of Holyrood.

Let me confront this modern plea with one voice from the real Middle Ages. It is true, the writer was in Italy; but many parallels could be quoted, from almost every country; and, if we study the sparse Scottish records, we may well conclude that this kind of case would perhaps have been more likely to occur in Scotland than anywhere else. This Italian case is not the strongest instance I could quote; but it is the only case I know for which we have not only documentary but also pictorial evidence.