The manuscript is written in a formal italic hand: whether this is the original poem or a contemporary or near-contemporary copy is unclear. It is incomplete, lacking leaves after folios 4 and 9 (containing the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2, and the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3); and it ends, or breaks off, in the middle of folio 36 verso.

The subject of the poem is George Gordon, 6th Earl (later 1st Marquess) of Huntly, and his part in the battle of Glenlivet in 1594 and the events leading up to it. Many of the names both of persons and of places are written in disguise, normally as anagrams or near-anagrams: many (but not all) of the names are recorded in their correct form in the margins or between the lines, presumably in the same hand. Several words, phrases and complete verses have been written in the same hand on scraps of paper which have been pasted over the previous text at various places throughout. Many of the leaves have subsequently suffered staining, some quite extensively.