Lawlor — The Cathach of St. Cohtmba. 435 



tradition. On the other hand, the very different traditions embodied in 

 D, N, and 0, and perhaps those of E and U, seem to belong to the south of 

 England. D is a Canterbury manuscript ; was written at Eeading ; and the 

 companions of N, Salisbury 150 and Ashm. 1525, are connected respectively 

 with Eeading and Canterbury.* We have already had examples of the way 

 ill which the northern tradition, as exhibited in some of its representatives, 

 has been modiiied by southern texts : S, 0,t and the MSS. H, Q have been 

 assimilated to D ; F often, and L- once to N ; L' once to E. 



Now, what is the relation of the series in the Bene^'entan MS. M to the rest ? 

 As we might expect, in many headings (about 20) it agrees with none of 

 them. Nevertheless its resemblance to the Northumbrian authorities is 

 striking. It supports ^ in 40 readings, a in 36, B in 26.j On the 

 -other hand, it is with D only nine times, with E thrice, with L' four 

 times, with N once, with never. But it is remarkable how often it is 

 the only supporter, among our authorities, of those dissident traditions. 

 MD are in agreement against the rest in Pss. xxxvi, xxxix, xlvi {ad gentes), 

 xlvii, Ix ; ME in Ps. hv (cp. Ivii) ; ML' in Ps. x ; MN in Ps. xiii, the only 

 place in which M and N come together. This may seem to indicate that not 

 only in Northumbria, but all over England, psalm headings were in use in 

 the seventh and later centuries which were ultimately derived from Italy. § 

 The inference must, of course, remain precarious till more e^■idence is avail- 

 able. For M is a comparatively late manuscript ; and we must allow for the 

 possibility that the English traditions found their way to Italy and exerted 

 an influence on Italian texts. At least two MSS. supplied with Northumbrian 

 psalm headings, A and G-, were sent to Eome as gifts to Popes. 



The Liturgical Notes, collected in Table II, are, with two exceptions 

 (Pss. iv, cix), confined to documents of the Northumbrian tradition (including 

 M). It will suffice for our purpose to deal very briefly with those that 

 appear to refer to the lectionary. It has been pointed out above (p. 275 f.) that 

 B derived its lectionary notes from two sources, one of which resembled A, 

 while the other did not. Of those borrowed from the latter source no 

 trace remains in any of our mss. except S and 2. Setting aside this second 

 series, we find between a, B, and C a close agreement. But the other 

 Northumbrian authorities have very few such notes, and those that survive, 



* Palaeographical Society, ii, pis. 188, 189, and aVjove, pp. 243, 414. 



t To the instances given above add Ps. Ivi. 



X These figures may be taken as the lowest possible. A more liberal interpretation 

 of the word " support " would raise the number by about ten in each case. 



§ That the N headings are of Italian origin is, of course, certain. They are, in the 

 main, extracts from the Divisio Psalmornm of Cassiodorus (Migne, P.L., Ixx). 



