Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Library MS La.III.21 (‘The McBeath Gaelic Medical Manuscript’)
Siobhán Barrett
View selected images of the manuscript online
Fig. 1: Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Library MS La.III.21, fols 50v-51r: The McBeath Gaelic Medical Manuscript (Image courtesy of University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository)
The McBeath Gaelic Medical Manuscript was written in the sixteenth century by Cairbre Ó Cendamhain for Eoin Mac Beatha, a member of the Scottish hereditary medical family which in time came to be known by the name Beaton. Over a period of around eighty-five years, many members of the Beaton family wrote their names in this manuscript and of those that supplied a date, the earliest was Giolla Colaim Mic Giolla Enndris mic Domhnaill mic Bethadh in 1587 and the latest was Fergus Beaton, who signed it in 1671. The genealogy of the island division of the Beaton family is one of the items in this manuscript which is of special interest to scholars of medical history. This genealogy, which was signed by ‘Christopherum mac Beaghum’, traces their lineage back as far as Niall of the Nine Hostages (fols 102v and 103r).
This manuscript contains 111 folios and it appears that initially only the first 85 folios were used, leaving many blank pages. This, along with the nature of the binding and the relatively small size of the pages, suggests that ‘John M‘Beath meant the MS. to be a sort of vade mecum to be carried about, and added to by himself and his successors as further experience and knowledge might render desirable’ (MacKinnon, 1912: 284).
In common with many of our medical manuscripts, a variety of topics are covered. These include instructions about how to find the Golden Number, an astrological table, a text on the signs of life and death, and a calendar. Selected passages from an Irish translation of Bernard of Gordon’s Lilium Medicinae, a text that is frequently found in Irish manuscripts, fill a substantial portion of the manuscript. Tracts on uroscopy (the diagnosis of disease by examination of urine) are also included, along with an illustrated guide to twenty different colours of urine. This consists of drawings of urine flasks accompanied by descriptions of all the possible colours of urine and the prognosis suggested by each colour. For example, if the urine is ‘black like writing ink’ it could suggest imminent death.
Fig. 2: Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Library, MS La.III.21, fol. 48r: Part of an illustrated guide to diagnosing disease by examining the colour of urine. Image courtesy of University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Further reading:
- McBeath Gaelic Medical Manuscript (selected pages), ADO-2018-0027. University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections
- Bannerman, John (2015), The Beatons: A Medical Kindred in the Classical Gaelic Tradition. 2nd ed. (Edinburgh: John Donald)
- MacKechnie, John (1973), Catalogue of Gaelic Manuscripts in Selected Libraries in Great Britain and Ireland (Boston: G.K. Hall), pp. 553–8
- MacKinnon, Donald (1912), A Descriptive Catalogue of Gaelic Manuscripts in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, and Elsewhere in Scotland (Edinburgh: W. Brown), pp. 283–6
Two other Beaton manuscripts are described in previous LEIGHEAS Manuscript of the Month entries: