Note 35 — Chapter XVIII · LITURGICAL PLAYS

Bodl. MS. 775; described by Frere, xxvii, as MS. E ‘Its date lies between 979 and 1016, since Ethelred is mentioned as reigning sovereign in the Litany on f. 18ᵛ, and in consequence it has sometimes been called “The Ethelred Troper.” Also, as it has the Dedication Festival on the 24th of November, it is probably anterior to the re-dedication of the Cathedral on Oct. 20, 980, since this day became subsequently the Dedication Festival.’ A facsimile from the MS. was published by the Palaeographical Society (Series ii. pl. iii), and it was suggested that it is in an early eleventh-century hand, but possibly copied an earlier text. But surely it would have been brought up to date on such a matter as the Dedication Festival.