The <i>Céli Dé</i> of St Serf's Island and their library

The community of Céli Dé on St Serf's Island in Loch Leven was most likely founded in the mid-ninth century and received endowments from Pictish and Scottish kings. By 1152×1156, it had come under the influence of St Andrews and was reformed as an Augustinian priory. The charter determining the future status of the community records, among their other assets, a small library. This comprised seventeen books, including liturgical texts (missal, gradual, lectionary), biblical books (three books of Solomon, the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles), theological treatises (Origen, Bernard's Sentences), and the functional Pastoralis of St Gregory, the whole reflecting the intention and practical implementation of their eremitic life. The absence of books for the Liturgy of the Hours suggests a focus on private devotion. By situating this rare surviving early booklist in its wider context, we can observe the community's engagement with broader textual traditions and gain a particular view of their intellectual and spiritual life at the time of their assimilation into the Augustinian order.