The miscellany comprises poems written in at least 3 hands on 19 pages (the remaining leaves blank), many of which address themes of war and religious devotion.
The untitled poem is "Growing old," published in 1913 by the American civil war veteran, Rollin. G. Wells, which was frequently reprinted in newspapers during World War One. The name Ann Fitzwilliam has been added in pencil below this poem. Below Brown's "My garden" is a parody of the poem, attributed in the Weekly Review to an anonymous student at the Britannia Royal Naval College. England to France, dated 1941 in the book, is a bitter denunciation of Vichy France.
Inscription on verso of first binder's leaf: For dear Lady Dawson from Mary R, Xmas 1916.
Manuscript commonplace book, created after 1902, inscribed by Aimée Evelyn Pirie (Lady Dawson) and others in England and France between 1916 and 1941.