Structural condition and legibility

The main part of BDL consists of 159 paper folios (20 cms x 14 cms approximately), with two more folios containing fragments which were evidently not part of the original MS.  In addition, there are 3 vellum folios which once acted as covers, and which contain Latin material.  Strictly, therefore, BDL is a gathering of at least three surviving sections of different MSS, the major section being that which gives the gathering its name, and justifies the nomenclature.

While being examined by the Highland Society, the MS was paginated, apparently by the Smith brothers.  This was done carelessly, with the result that two consecutive pages sometimes carry the same number, while other pages have been overlooked.  Nevertheless, the pagination indicates that the order of the folios has not been disturbed since the early nineteenth century.  Yet there is clear evidence that the folios had been upset at an earlier stage.  This is demonstrated by the text of Poem IX in the present edition, which occupies most of pp. 133-40 of the MS (as numbered), but concludes on p. 212 (as numbered).  The condition of the text in Appendix A, which seems to lack both beginning and end, could suggest further that some of the original folios of the MS have been lost.

Although no folios appear to have been lost since 1803, the general legibility of the MS has deteriorated in the last century and a half.  Under normal lighting conditions, nineteenth-century transcribers were often able to read words and letters which are now retrievable only under ultra-violet light, or are beyond legibility even with such modern aids.  Such fading is restricted mainly to the outer margins of certain folios, and has probably been caused by friction and exposure to light.

On a number of pages, however, staining is affecting the legibility of the script.  This staining was caused by the acidic content of the paper inlay which was provided when the MS was rebound in dark niger morocco covers in 1911. Trimming of the outer edges of folios, when affixing the inlay, has removed some letters, and very occasionally whole words have disappeared. In a few instances, the outer margins have also developed lacunae, created by several factors, including flaws in the paper itself.  In general, however, the number of totally irretrievable words and letters within the present corpus is comparatively small.  The text in Appendix A is an extreme case of fading caused primarily by exposure to light.  Ultra-violet light has, however, facilitated the reading of much more of this poem than has been legible hitherto, and has clarified several doubtful or obscure readings in the margins of the MS.

In the 1980s, the 1911 binding was removed from the MS, and the folios were separated from the inlay.  The folios were then placed in plastic lamination, and inserted in two binders. This is intended to arrest the spread of acid staining and to protect the folios from friction.