Meditations : Religious writing 24 June 1690 - 22 May 1692.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Meditation.

Limekilns (Scotland).

Ireland.

Dunfermline (Scotland).

Killiecrankie (Scotland).

London (England).

Edinburgh (Scotland).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Summary:

The manuscript remained in the library at Pitfirrane House, seat of the Halkett family, until it was purchased by the National Library of Scotland in 1951-52 (though it was borrowed from Pitfirrane on two occasions).

Notes:

AMDigital Reference:MS 6499

National Library of Scotland MS 6499 is the eleventh of fourteen extant manuscripts of religious meditations written by Anne, Lady Halkett. For a discussion of all of the surviving manuscripts plus the lost volumes, see the Context and Purpose article in NLS MS 6489. This manuscript consists of occasional and select meditations. The occasional meditations occur on pp.1-79 (msItems 4-46). The first of these occasional meditations refers to the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, William III's defeat of James II's army in Ireland. Halkett's son Robert, fighting for James II, was captured after this and imprisoned. Other topics are familiar: her debts, the children who board with her, her devotions, important anniversaries, and the troubles of her ministers, James Graeme and Simon Cooper (who are persecuted by the Presbyterian establishment). These occasional meditations are followed by two long select or biblical meditations. The first is on the Book of Nehemiah (pp.80-253, msItem 47). In this meditation there is one stub between pp.120 and 121, obviously cut out, possibly by Halkett, resulting in missing text. The second select meditation considers the holy and good women of the Bible (pp.254-370, msItem 48). In this meditation Halkett discusses Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, Miriam, the daughters of Zelophehad, Ruth, Hannah, Bathsheba, Deborah, Huldah the prophetess, the woman of Canaan, Mary sister of Lazarus, Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary. On pp.330-331 Halkett refers to having written meditations on the book of Judges in another volume (now lost) and on p.366 to having done the same for the Virgin Mary, in a volume begun on 25 March 1683 (now lost). Halkett has written a table of contents on p. i (msItem 2) and a poem on her gratefulness for recovering from illness on pp. ii-iii (msItem 3). She wrote this poem on 11 February 1692, during the period she was writing her meditation on the women of the Bible. The verso of p. iii is blank and unpaginated. Halkett wrote the first occasional meditation on 24 June 1690 (pp.1-3). Then she left a number of blank pages (pp.4-79) and began writing her select meditations on 22 July 1690 (pp.80-253). On 4 August 1690 she returned to her occasional meditations and continued writing them until 11 April 1691 (pp.3-79). The writing on the pages leading up to p.80 (especially p.79) is very small and cramped. She explicitly explains that she left these pages blank on p.80 (see incipit). On 29 June 1691 she began her final select meditation (pp.254-370) and finished it on 22 May 1692 (p. iv). She must have written the table of contents after completing the volume, and she may have copied her poem dated 11 February 1692 after that date on the verso (and next leaf) of the table of contents. As with most of her other manuscripts many of her versos have running heads; rectos tend to use running heads only to indicate a new section.