A COLLECTION of rare manuscripts dating back to the eleventh century is gathering dust in a room in Edinburgh because there is no money to put it on public display.

The collection of 7000 rare volumes was donated to the National Library of Scotland by St Benedict's Abbey in Fort Augustus up to five years ago. The most recent donation, also the oldest written Gaelic text in Scotland, dates back to 1080.

However, staff at the National Library claim they have been unable to catalogue the works because the Scottish Office will not provide the #50,000 costs. The library has seen a 10% cut in staffing levels.

A spokesman said: ``Although the library has always tried to protect the public from the direct consequences of these cuts, the stage has now been reached where public services are affected and there has been a general increase in the time taken to make books available through catalogues.

``In these circumstances, we have given priority to modern Scottish publications because we feel that is our prime responsibility.

``We are continuing to press the Scottish Office for an appropriate level of funding and at the same time seeking other sources of finance to supplement the shortfall in Government funding.''

The books and manuscripts were given to the National Library to make them more easily available to scholars and researchers unable to travel to Inverness-shire.

The Abbot of St Benedict's Abbey, the Right Reverend Gerard Dillworth said: ``We loaned the library these books and manuscripts to make them more accessible to the public and we're no further forward than we were five years ago. It would take peanuts to resolve the matter.''

The SNP said the gulf in funding between Scotland and England meant the rare artefacts might take years to catalogue properly and become available for public scrutiny.

Mr Paul Scott, SNP Arts spokesman, said the crisis was caused by a lack of resources for Scotland's National Library compared with #500m which is being spent on the new British Library in London. He said: ``The National Library is a cultural and intellectual nerve centre of Scottish life and is an invaluable source for academic researchers from Scotland and across the world.

``It is a shameful example of the neglect of a central feature of Scottish life under the present constitutional arrangements.''

A spokeswoman from the Scottish Office said it was increasing its running cost allocation to the National Library by #90,000 for it to determine spending priorities.