The manuscript contains several hands, two of which are readily
identifiable, that of Sir John, who has left us numerous autographs; and that
of John Harington his son (1589-1654), who appears to have used the
manuscript as a notebook and is thus responsible for the sporadic shorthand
notes throughout it, placed between the lines of his father's texts and on
blank pages.[28] A specimen of his
hand can be seen in his autograph diary, B.L. Add. MS. 10114. In addition
the manuscript has accumulated several other hands, including a table of
contents in a later hand, and numerous mathematical sums and doodlings,
characteristic of the way in which the Harington descendants defaced other
manuscripts in the family's keeping.[29]
The volume is bound in vellum, and on its front cover carries the
title, in a seventeenth-century italic hand: "Sr Iohn
Harringtons own |
Mss relating to the war in Ireland | 1599 [sic
underlining]." It measures 192 x 142 mm. and contains 66 leaves, 65 of
which have been numbered by the cataloguer. On the inside front cover is
the signature "H Harington," with the notation below it, "Above is
Dr
Harington's signature, RHH." I have not been able to determine the identity
of "RHH," nor to determine if the signature is that of Dr. Harington
père or Dr. Harington fils, the latter being the editor of the
Nugae. In the description of contents below, items which
have
been published are so indicated with complete references.
Contents: ff. 1-2, a cropped letter bound in laterally, with conjugate
leaves appearing at the back of the volume, at ff. 64-65, written about 2
June 1599, sending news in the anonymous writer's area of the campaign;
the text of the letter consists serially, of ff. 2r, 64v, 65r, and 1v; the outer
pages have been scribbled on, but one autograph note, partly cut away,
remains on f. 1r: "M
r hammond the [secon?] * 1599";
3-5,
miscellaneous shorthand notes, in the hand of son John; 6r, table of
contents, with items appearing in
Nugae Antiquae marked
"printed"; 6v, blank; 7-18r, text of "A Iournal of my lords Iorney.
beginning the 9. of May. 1599.", with the notation on 7r,
"The substance of this is printed," undoubtedly referring to the publication
of the "Report" in the
Nugae; 18v-19, paraphrases of Psalms
42 and 50, in son John's hand; [A] an unnumbered blank leaf; 20r,
autograph copy of "Mac Dermons letter," in Latin, dated 15 August 1599
(printed in
Tracts Relating to Ireland, II, 47); 20v, blank;
21-23r, autograph text of "Report of my Iorney into the North to Iustice
Cary. In Ierland" (printed
Nugae, I [1769], 28-31;
Nugae [1779], II, 1-7;
Nugae [1804], I,
247-52;
Letters, pp. 76-79); 23v, blank; 24-28, shorthand notes;
29-34v,
"Ordinances by hir ma
tie, to be putt in execution for the
reforminge of
sondrie errors and disorders vsed in the Musters and paiments of hir
ma
ties Armie . . . in the realme of Ireland the first of Iulie
. . . 1597,"
with the notation, "Not printed";
[30]
34v-36, "An abstracte of suche Iournies as the righte ho
ble
s
r
willm Russell . . .
performed . . . duringe the tyme of his Governemente," a copy of a
document covering the period 1594-97, interlined with shorthand notes;
37-41r, autograph copy of "The humble Requestes of the Captaines of
Ireland," dated 27 January 1597/98, the text of which actually begins on
38r and is preceded by an explanatory note of one leaf; 41-43, autograph
copy of "The Cheefe causes. of the wante of reformation of Ireland"
(printed
Nugae, I [1769], 139-144;
Nugae
[1779],
II, 294-303); 44, shorthand notes; 45-48, autograph copy of a letter from
Sir John Harington to Thomas Combe, dated on f. 48v "the last of August.
/ 1599.", in a version different from those printed;
[31] 49-50r, autograph copy of a letter
from
Harington to Sir Anthony Standen, dated 7 August 1599 (the printed
versions are undated); about the last quarter of the text of the letter is
lacking in the manuscript (printed
Nugae, I [1769], 51-53;
Nugae [1779], II, 20-24;
Nugae [1804], I, 264-268;
Letters, pp. 68-70);
50,
shorthand notes; 51, copy of a letter from Harington to Sir Anthony
Standen, from Kelston near Bath, dated 20 February 1599/1600 (printed
Nugae, I [1769], 40-41;
Nugae [1779], II,
25-28;
Nugae [1804], I, 309-311;
Letters, pp. 79-80);
52-60, shorthand notes; 61r, blank; 61v, shorthand notes; 62r, blank; 62v,
shorthand notes; 63, the remainder of a leaf, most of which has been torn
away, blank on recto, with shorthand notes on verso; 64-65, the conjugate
leaves of the letter bound in at ff. 1-2, at the beginning of the
volume.
