File 453A. - Chronicles, etc.

A small composite volume (124 pp.) containing brief chronicles written by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt with some annotations by Lewis Morris and a few additional items written towards the end of the eighteenth century. The contents are as follows: p. 1, a note concerning 'Ystradmeurig' and Edward Richards [sic] (cf. Panton MS 24, pp. 134-5); pp. 9-24, 'Allan o hen llyvrae memrwn wedi eu scrivennu ers gwell no 300 mlynedh y cawd y cofion hynn : Oes Gorthyyrn Gorthenev hyt weyth Vadon ydymladaud Arthur ar Saesson ... or pan doeth Normyn gyntaf (y ynys Brydyn [yny aeth Gruffut ygwystel, dwy flyned ar bymthec a deugain a chant hyt vrwydr Derwyn, chwe blyned a chue chant]', followed by a note in the hand of L[ewis] M[orris], 'This vastly differs from that printed with H. Llwyd's Brev. of Brit. - 1731 and is a better copy'; pp. 27-31, 'Allan o vn or llyfrae dywededic vchod y cawd hyn sydh yn calyn' : 'Oyd yr Arglwyd pan las Arthur yg gad Gamlan ... y gwisgywt goron e dyurnas am ben Edward y vab'; pp. 33-8, 'Or vn llyfr y cawd hyn' : 'Henwe y Brenhynet. Eneas ysgwythwyn, gwedy yntau Ascanus ... gwedy ynteu Cadwallawn, gwedy ynteu Catwaladyr vendigeit'; pp. 39-47, 'Dyriau Sr. Morgan', twenty-four in number, beginning 'Mi glywais sôn gan fagad ...', with a note by 'E:h:' [probably the Reverend Evan Herbert], followed by 'Some account of Dr. Edmund Prys who rendered the Welch singing Psalms into the common metre', also by 'E:h:'; pp. 49-52, 'Allan o hen lyvr memrwn Cyntaf henv a vu ar yr ynys hon cyn y chael nae chyuanhedu Clas Merdin ... ar drytyd yn gear (gaer) Euravc yny Gogled. sef yw honno Iorc'; pp. 55-70, 'Mewn llyfr o law G: Owen y cefais i hyn. Llyma henwav y pedwar brenhin ar hvgain a varnwyd yn gydarnaf ... ac un a elwid Wden or Saeson a wisgawdd coron Loygyr. ynewyn ar varwolaeth vchod a barhaodh xl o vlynydhoedh yn gymeint ac na alle y byw gladhu y meirw'; pp. 73-6, 'Pedwar marchoc vrddol ar hugain oedd yn llys Arthur ... A thrwyr gwyr hynny yddoedd Arthur yn gorfod ymhob lle'; pp. 79-83, 'Kadwaladrus ultimus rex Britanniae illustris ... et Rodericus uero requiescit in Kibij Castro in Mona'; pp. 85-8, 'Mewn hen lyfr papur wedi eu scrivenu ers. 180 o vlynydhoedh y cawd syn callyn. Vltimus rex de genere Bruti fuit Cadwaladrus ... et alium. fillium cuius nomen mychi incognitum, est'; pp. 91-109, 'Llyfr W: llun. Blwydhyn eissiav o dheucant a phvm'il a fv or amser i gwnaethbwyd Adhaf hyd oni dhoeth Crist yngknawd tyn ... a hwnw a dhywaid y brydwyr mae coronoc vaban yw a dhywawd Merdhin wyllt am danaw gynt'; pp. 111-116, 'Th Will'ms allan o hen Vemrwn a gowsai y Cof hwn. Llyma val y descennodh pendevigaeth Gymru er yn oes Vaelgwn Gwynedh ... yn ol Madawc ydoeth Coronoc Lhvndain' (see Peter C. Bartrum 'Disgyniad Pendefigaeth Cymru', The National Library of Wales Journal, Vol. XVI, 253-263); and a copy by E. H: of a warrant, 5 January 1636/7, to Evan Thomas of the parish of Talyllyn, Merionethshire for the levying of ship money in the said parish of Talyllyn in the hundred of Estimaner, Merionethshire ('N:b: I have the Original of this warrant now in my Possession. E:h:'). In connection with the Reverend Evan Herbert, see Panton MS 24, p. 135; he was rector of Llanfairfechan, Caernarvonshire from 1801 until his death in 1830. The chronicles are to be found in Panton MS 23, pp. 155-229, and Panton MS 38, pp.137-145, but whether the Panton manuscripts contain a direct transcript from the present manuscript is uncertain. There are some pencil notes in the autograph of St George Armstrong Williams. The number '22' occurs on a label on the cover, with '384' written in pencil above.