The Spanish manuscript, possibly Dutch! (4)
I believe the answer is:
elms
'the spanish manuscript possibly dutch' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'the spanish manuscript' is the wordplay.
'the spanish' becomes 'el' ('the' in Spanish).
'manuscript' becomes 'ms' (abbreviation for manuscript).
'el'+'ms'='ELMS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elms that I've seen before include "Mel's strange trees" , "rugged feature of country churchyard" , "Deciduous trees with rough serrated leaves" , "may have many leaves" , "Trees sound like Cockney steering devices" .)