by scribes trained in East Anglia" (Spector, xxix) Meredith more positively asserts that The Mary Play comes from Norfolk (Meredith, 6). However, since the eclectic nature of the MS. has been recognised, scholars have been hesitant to insist that all the plays copied into this anthology were played in the same place. Date The date "1468" appears in the hand of the major scribe at the end of the Purification play (f 100v). This, then, is the earliest possible date for the copying of the text. Spector has concluded on the basis of dialectal evidence that the plays cannot predate 1425 and on the basis of the watermarks on the paper that the paper used by the main scribe comes from the period 1460–77. It is possible, again on the basis of the paper, that the Assumption play, written separately by a different scribe and bound into the main MS., was copied slightly earlier. We are safe to assume that the MS. dates from the second half of the third quarter (ca. 1463–75) of the 15th century. This makes it the oldest MS. to contain a large number of Biblical plays. Although we know there were plays performed elsewhere from the late 14th century, the York manuscript was written down in the 1470s, the Towneley MS. after the turn of the 16th century and all the versions of the Chester plays after 1596. Sources of the plays The majority of the plays that make up the N-Town Cycle are based (some rather tenuously) on the Bible, while the others are taken from Roman Catholic legend, apocryphal sources and folk tradition. The Parliament of Heaven is based on just one verse from a psalm. The Marian plays place a strong emphasis on the early life of the Virgin, as well as on the relationship between her and Joseph (which plays heavily upon the popular medieval old man with a younger wife trope). The Trial of Mary and Joseph play has been identified as a pastiche of the East Anglian ecclesiastical court system. The Proclamation of the Banns Play 1: Creation of Heaven & Fall of the Rebel Angels Play 2: Creation of World & Fall of Adam and Eve Play 3: Cain and Abel Play 4: Noah's Flood Play 5: Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac Play 6: Moses and the Ten Commandments Play 7: The Root of Jesse: Prophecies of the Savior