A volume containing a late-eighteenth century copy of 'A Short Account of the Rebellion in North & South Wales in Oliver Cromwell's Time copy'd from a Manuscript', recording events in Wales during the English Civil War from its commencement in 1642 to the execution of Charles I in 1649 and through the Commonwealth Period until 1656 (ff. 1-13 verso, 22-30; ff. 12 verso-13 verso and f. 28 are in Welsh).
The author gives a non-partisan account of the conflict, although sometimes referring to the excesses of the Parliamentary forces; his statement on f. 1 verso that he was a resident of Llanfachreth and Dolgellau, Merionethshire, suggests an identification with Robert Vaughan (1592?-1666) of Hengwrt. The volume also includes a short chronology of events in England, Scotland, Ireland, and abroad, 1600-1653 (ff. 14-19); the names of the principal officers and the numbers from other ranks taken and killed at the Battle of Nantwich, 25 January 1643 (f. 19 verso); 'The Humble Petition of many Thousands in ye Counties of Northwales', concerning the ejection of ministers from their churches and the sequestering of tithes by the Act made 22 February 1649 for propagating the gospel in Wales (f. 20); memoranda and copies of documents relating to the parliamentary elections for Merionethshire, 1654 and 1658, including a letter, 30 September 1654, from Simon Thelwall, Plas-y-Ward, and Humphrey Jones, Plas-yn-ddôl, to the friends of John Vaughan, Cefnbodig, Penllyn, one of the candidates, and a letter, 23 December 1658, from Howel Vaughan, Glan-y-llyn, and others to Lewis Owen, Peniarth, expressing their opinion that the latter would be a fit person to serve as member for the county at the next Parliament (ff. 20 verso-21 verso); and an account of an apparition of a battle seen in 1656 by eight eyewitnesses at Tre'r-go between Newborough and Aberffraw, Anglesey (ff. 29 verso-30).

Letters to Sir William Maurice, 1587-1619, and Elen Eure 1624; Col. William and Mary Owen, 1632-1670; Sir John Owen, 1647-1660; Jane Owen, 1669-1718; Catherine Owen, 1679; Ellen Owen, 1679-[c. 1701]; Sir Robert Owen, 1681-1697; Lady Margaret Owen, [c. 1682]-1727; and Elizabeth and Thomas Longueville, 1724-1743. Recurrent topics include the public duties of Sir William Maurice, Sir John Owen and Sir Robert Owen; local and national official appointments; the aftermath of the Civil War; post-Restoration political events and religious unrest; debts owed by Sir Henry Johnes of Abermarlais to Sir William Maurice and his immediate descendants; litigation concerning the North Wales and Oswestry estates; and financial issues arising from the estates of Sir Robert Owen and his sister, Ellen. There are several letters by Humphrey Humphreys, Bishop of Bangor and of Hereford, and other correspondents to Sir Robert Owen about family settlements; and to Jane Owen, Ellen Owen and Lady Margaret Owen concerning the education of Sir Robert 's children after his death, personal debts and encumbrances on his estate, particularly the mortgage of Ystumcegid, 1698-1704.

Original and copied Civil War and Commonwealth papers which show the effects of major national events at county level. These include accounts of maintaining military troops and of war contributions in Ardudwy, [1644x1650?]; a royal pass for an army officer going to Ireland, 1645; an agreement for the surrender of Oxford, 1646; and a report of the Sub-Committee of the Commonwealth, 1654. Other subjects of interest are Sir John Owen 's governorship of Conwy Castle, notably his dispute with Archbishop John Williams and conditions stipulated for surrender of the fortress, [1645-1646]; the treatment of Royalists at castles in North Wales; the quartering of troops in Merionethshire; the sequestered lands of Sir John Owen in Caernarfonshire, the affected estate of William Owen and a demand of £1200 on the estate of the latter 's wife, Catherine Anwyl, 1646-1660; and information against Sir John Carter in respect of his political and religious activities [c. 1659].

Llangibby Castle estate records, including court rolls of manors in Monmouthshire, 1262-1911, Glamorgan, 1675-1739, Gloucestershire, 1427-1595, and Somerset, 1609-1691; title deeds, mainly Monmouthshire, 1217-1930, and correspondence, mainly 18-19 cent.; important letters and papers relating to the civil war in Monmouthshire; and manuscripts aquired by the family, including drafts and copies of Modus Tenendi Parliamentarum and Observata Parliamentaria by Henry Elsynge, junior (1598-1654), clerk to the House of Commons, together with minutes of the House of Commons, 1624-1626, calendar of the Journal of the House of Lords, 1647-1768, copies of the Journals of the House of Commons, 1547-1701, index to parliamentary proceedings, temp. Edward III-Edward IV, and, 1724-1743, civil war tracts, the journal of the missionary Dr Joseph Wolff, 1832, 'Prif Achae holh Gymru Benbaladr' in the autograph of Sir Thomas Wiliams, Trefriw, 1578-1609, a seventeenth-century collection of Welsh poetry by the principal 'cywyddwyr'; a memoir of Richard Robert Jones ('Dic Aberdaron', 1780-1843) in his own autograph; English sermons and miscellaneous notes by Rev. Edmund Jones, Pontypool, a sermon notebook of Rev. Philip Henry (1631-1696), the eminent Nonconformist divine, a survey of the lands of Henry, earl of Pembroke, in Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, 1570, and a survey of lands in the lordship of Usk, 1619; pedigree rolls of Sir Roger Williams of Penrhos, Monmouthshire, compiled by Thomas Jones ('Twm Siôn Catti'), 1591, and of the Williams family of Llangibby Castle, probably compiled by Sylvanus Morgan.

Copy of [Edward Herbert’s] answer to the House of Commons, [?March 1647], defending his conduct during the civil war and requesting compensation.

A volume containing notes of a very miscellaneous nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') except for a few pages in the hand of Taliesin Williams, his son. Included, pagination in brackets, are a brief note relating to the 'short and simple and thence natural account of the Welsh Saints' and a reference to the possibility of the existence of documents relating to 'British Ecclesiastic history' at the Vatican (1); notes headed 'Llyma Enwau Swrn o Wyr Enwogion o Genedl y Cymry . . .' being notes on figures of Welsh mythology presumably extracted (see note on p. 5) from Welsh School Collection MS No. 43 ( listed as missing when the Welsh School Collection was presented to the British Museum in 1844, see B.M. Additional MS 14955) (7-12); genealogical and historical or pseudo-historical data relating to Welsh saints or reputed saints, notes relating to figures such as Macsen Wledig, Seithenin Frenin, and Meyric, Brenin Dyfed, lists of the children of Caw o Dwr Celyn, Brychan Brycheiniawc, and Seithenin ab Seithin, etc. (21-37); a brief note relating to the bardic brothers Cynfrig and Ieuan ap Gronw, and the son, grandson, and great-grandson of the said Ieuan, all being bards ( 57); notes relating to Urnach Wyddel, who led twenty thousand 'Gwyddelod' into Gwynedd, and his sons Syrigi and Daronwy (58); brief notes on Arianrod ferch Don, Ugnach Wyddel and his son Culfardd, Cadvan ap Eneas, Cadvan ap Iago, and Cadwallon ap Cadvan (59); an incomplete list headed 'Mythological characters ex Cambrian Biography' (61-2); genealogical data tracing the descent in direct line of figures such as Coel Godebawc, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Gruffudd ap Cynan, Maxen Wledig, Iestin ap Gwrgan, Cynedda Wledig, Cadell Deyrnllwg, Llywarch Hen, etc., and a list of the children of the last-named (65-71); a note relating to 'Saer Wyddel o Gor Illtyd' (71-2); notes relating to Hywel Dda, his establishing of the privileged 'pymtheg llwyth' in Gwynedd and the 'pedair gwelygordd ar hugain' in Pywys, and his instructions for the keeping of records of genealogies, etc., in Gwynedd and Pywys (72-3); a brief genealogy tracing the direct descent of Elystan Glodrydd from Beli Mawr and brief notes on the sons of Cynfarch ap Meirchion (78); a brief genealogy giving the lineal ancestors and descendants of Gruffudd Gwyr (80); variant lists of the names of the children of y Caw Cawllog or Caw o Brydyn with brief notes thereon (81-3); miscellanea including a list of the names of the seven bishops who debated with 'Awstin, Escob y Saeson, ar lann Hafren' (? St. Augustine), a brief note on [the monastery of] Bangor is y coed, a list of the sons of Goronwy o Wareddawc, a list of ? saints linked with specific areas, a note relating to Saint Illtud, a list of saints associated with Morgannwg and Gwent, other lists, and miscellaneous data (83-8); a copy of an inscription relating to the contents and the compiler of 'Llyfr Twrog' (89); a list of thirteen saints with the locations of churches or cells founded by them and occasional additional data relating thereto (93-5); a list of the names of five of the children of Brychan (98 ); a list of names of saints with the locations of cells founded by them or of ? their sphere of activity (99-100); a list of ten Welsh manuscript or printed volumes (e.g. 'Salmau Capten Middleton yn ysgrifenedig', 'Egluryn Ffraethineb yn ysgrifenedig', 'Salmau Middleton - Print') headed 'Ystrad Meyryg 1799' and followed by a note stating that when the compiler of the list visited [Ystrad meurig] three years later the last item on the list was missing (101); three bardic triads 'o Ramadeg Simwnt Fychan' (102 ); an incomplete list of triads headed 'Trioedd a ddangoswyd yng Nghadair Garth Moelwg gan Willim ap leuan Hen a elwir Gwilym Tew Brydydd o Dir Iarll' (103-04); notes, sometimes date of death only, or anecdotes relating to forty-four persons who flourished from the ?first to the seventeenth century, e.g. Constantine the Great, St. David, St. Patrick, Geoff[rey] of Monmouth, Syr Rhys ab Thomas [ob. 1525], Richard Nevil, earl of Warwick, ob. 1471, Dav[id] Jenkins of Hensol [co. Glamorgan], and Sir Edw[ard] Carne of Weny, co. Glamorgan [ob. 1561], and to one family, viz. the Morgans of Pencarn, Monmouthshire (109-19); a note relating to, and brief extracts from, 'Llyfr Twrog' (121-3); brief extracts relating to 'Pair Cariadwen', 'Pair Ogyrfan Gawr', and 'Pair Dadeni', with an extract from the work of Cynddelw and a transcript of an 'englyn' attributed to Casnodyn illustrative of the word 'pair / peir' (129-30); notes relating to Saint Illtud, the monastery and school founded at Llanilltud, and the abbots of the said monastery, all under the superscription 'July 19th 1729. The Antiquities of Lantwit Major, Com. Glamorgan' and being allegedly transcribed by Edward Williams from a manuscript account compiled by David Nicholls in 1729 (see also NLW MSS 13114B, 13116B above) (149-70); a list of the abbots of the monastery at Lantwit [Major] compiled from the account given on pp. 149-70 with brief general comments relating thereto ( 171-3); (continued)

Notes relating to a field called 'the Halls hay' which, according to the aforementioned Mr. Nicholls and tradition, was the site of the old abbey, the stones of the new church possibly taken from ruins unearthed at Halls hay, the town hall, the tithe barn, the granary of the tithe barn 'said to have been the Gate of the Monastery', the rectory house, the 'Chantery house', and abbot's rents in the aforesaid town and parish of Lantwit Major (174-8); a list of old Welsh words (179); a list of Welsh manuscripts headed 'Llyfrau Tho. Edwards, Dinbych' (197-8); a list of eight 'Welsh MSS. with Revd. Richd. Davies at Bangor' (199); extracts from 'Vol. 63. P.P.' [i.e. Paul Panton MS No. 63 now NLW MS 2029B, of which see ff. 90 verso-92 recto] relating to the location of certain Welsh manuscripts (200); very brief notes referring to some of the items to be found in some of the 'MSS. at Mr. Panton' [i.e. the Panton MSS now NLW MSS 1970- 2068] (201-02); a transcript of the beginning of the tale of Einion ap Gwalchmai and Rhiain y Glasgoed (209); a list of Welsh words with English definitions or comments thereon (210-11); a short list of Welsh words or phrases and a bardic triad (212); extracts from poems attributed to Gutto' r Glynn (215); lists of compound Welsh words containing instances of D + D or D + T > TT as in 'Cyttun < Cyd-dynn', of D > T 'when preceding G', etc. (217-19); copies of memorial inscriptions in the churches of Penarth and Landough [juxta] Penarth [co. Glamorgan] (220-25; in the hand of Tal[ies] in Williams); brief extracts from 'Llyfr Siôn Hywel Gwynn' defining the terms 'Alban Elfed', 'Alban Arthan', 'Alban Eilir', and 'Alban Hefin' and the three divisions of the year (226); miscellaneous jottings including an extract from The Independent Whig, 25 December 1808, a brief genealogical note referring to Thos. Vaughan of Hergest [co. Hereford, ob. 1469], his son and grandson, and a copy of the inscription on the tomb of the Reverend Edward Gamage, ob. 1734, in St. Athan's churchyard [co. Glamorgan ] (229-30); a brief note on Nicholas ap Gwrgant, bishop of Landaff in 1149, extracted from Brown Willis [: A Survey of the Cathedral Church of Landaff ], etc. (232); a note referring to the establishing of the bardic 'Cadair Tir Iarll' by Robert, son-in-law of Rhobert ab Ammon [late 11th cent.] (233); a short list of Welsh proverbs with English translations of some (234); two groups of Welsh words the first exemplifying 'Deudneudian mutilation' and the second 'Diphthongs with a diaresis' (235); a brief note on the poet Robert Langland, fl. 1369, and a list containing the names of three Glamorgan centenarians who were alive in 1812 and of one who had died in 1809 (237); a transcript of five 'englynion' attributed to John Miles of Pencoed, Llanilid [co. Glamorgan], 1812 (238); extracts from certain clauses of the 'New Toleration Act finally passed July 29th 1812' [ i.e. 'Places of Religious Worship Act, 1812'] (239-40); miscellaneous genealogical data relating to South Wales (245-51); genealogical data centred on the poet Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Mathafarn [co. Montgomery] (253); the words and music of a song headed 'Irish song in the Register office by Mr. Moody' (254 + 259); transcripts of strict-metre stanzas attributed to Risiart Twrbil and Dafydd Benwyn (255); an extract from '?Mrs. Robinson's Monody to the memory of the Queen of France', etc. (256-7); an incomplete list (two names only) of 'Subscribers to Poems by E[dward] W[illiams], 2nd edit., 1813' (258); brief genealogical notes centred upon Ifor Petti [Ifor Bach, fl. 1158] of Seinghenydd [co. Glamorgan] (258); five stanzas of Welsh religious verse (260); brief notes headed 'Glamorgan 1806' containing brief observations on the progress of the wheat crops and the abundance of sainfoin 'in the Vale', 1-11 June, and on the soil, the amount of clover, and wychelms, etc., in the 'Vale of Miskin', and a copy of an inscription at Llanelldeyrn (271-2); a copy of an inscription 'On the Tomb of Monce de Lundres in the Abbey Church of Ewenny' (273); miscellanea including a note on the budding and flowering of trees and privets in the St. Athan area, April 1809, and on the comparative lightness of snowfalls in the southern part of the Vale of Glamorgan in the winter of 1808-1809, and extracts from 'Baldwin's London and Weekly Journal' relating to a storm in the London area in May 1809 and a snowstorm in the ? Bath area in April 1809 with notes contrasting conditions in Glamorgan on the same dates (274-5); a list of ? market towns in Glamorgan, 1809 (276); medicinal recipes (277-8); brief notes on the countryside between Landaff and Llantrisent [co. Glamorgan], 23 June 1810 (279); extracts from 'Bald[win's] Journal', July 1809, and [Anthony Florian Madinger] Willich: The Domestic Encyclopaedia [London, 1802] (281- 3); incomplete lists of 'cromlechau', tumuli, [stone] circles, and ruined chapels in co. Glamorgan (285-90); notes relating to the Lantwit Vairdre and Newbridge areas [of co. Glamorgan] (291-5); two examples of rotations of crops ? practised in Glamorgan (296); notes on the crossing of breeds of sheep in Glamorgan (302); brief notes ? from Dugdale's Baronage relating to Roger Mortimer of Chirk [ob. 1326], William Zouch of Mortimer [ob. 1337], and Hugh, earl of Chester, late 11th cent. (307-08); a list of Welsh words headed 'Deudneudiaith' (315); a transcript of a stanza of Welsh verse attributed to Guttyn . . . Gnwppa, two triads, a copy of an 'englyn' by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg', a formula for making ink, and an extract from a 'cywydd' attributed to T[udur] Aled (317); an account of Wiliam Dafydd Powel Ierwerth of the parish of Tre Gaian, co. Anglesey, ob. 1582, and his forty-three children (318-19); a tale relating to two families from Gwern Howel near Ysbytty and Rhyd y creue or Cil cenys [? co. Denbigh] (319-21); transcripts of two three-line stanzas of Welsh verse attributed to Ddd. Thomas, circa 1600, and one stanza of a Welsh carol (321); copies of eleven stanzas of Welsh verse headed 'o hen garol ar Salm 130' and two further stanzas headed 'Llyma ddechreu'r carol rhagflaeniedig. Y De profundis. Psalm 130' (322-4); brief notes relating to events in Wales and Ireland, 1648-9, based on or extracted from [John] Banks [: A Short Critical Review of the Political] Life of Oliver Cromwell [1739] (325-7); and other miscellanea.

A volume containing a holograph copy, finished 16 January 1649/50, of an incomplete translation into Welsh by Rowland Vaughan (c. 1590-1667), Caer Gai, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire, of Eikon Basilike, a work attributed to King Charles I and first published a few hours after the king's execution on 30 January 1648/9.
Preceding the translation is a dedicatory epistle to Col. Sir John Owen of Clenennau, Caernarvonshire, under whom Vaughan served during the Civil War (f. 1 recto-verso), three verses on the death of Charles I and four regarding the translation (f. 2). The surviving part of the translation begins towards the end of chapter 23 (the original pagination indicates the loss of 140 pages at the beginning) and continues to the end of the work (ff. 3 23 verso); it is followed by a table of contents (ff. 23 verso-24). Vaughan translated the text at Cilgellan, Merionethshire, since his own home, Caer Gai, had been destroyed by the Parliamentarian troops. The text of the dedicatory epistle is printed in Megan Ellis, 'Pethau nas Cyhoeddwyd, 2. Cyflwyniad Rowland Vaughan, Caergai, i'w gyfieithiad o Eikon Basilike', National Library of Wales Journal, 1 (1939-40), 141-144 (pp. 143-144). See also Eikon Basilike, or the King's Book, ed. by Edward Almack (London, 1904). A negative photostat copy of the manuscript was made, [?mid-20 cent.], prior to its repairing and binding at NLW and prior to its being foliated; this copy is now Brogyntyn MS II.56a.

A volume containing abstracts, [late 19 cent.], of official correspondence and documents dated 1485-1645, arranged chronologically, relating to members of the Owen family of Clenennau; the original letters are to be found among the Clenennau Letters and Papers in NLW, Brogyntyn Estate and Family Records.
Tipped in is a short account, [mid-18 cent.], of 'The civil War between K. Charles 1st & his Parliament', with the note 'To be put in Manuscript cupboard, WWEW' added in pencil in the hand of W. W. E. Wynne, Peniarth (ff. 29, 30).

A transcript of Lord Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: A Satire (London, 1809) in the hand of Mary Jane Ormsby Gore whose signature, dated 10 March 1816, appears on f. i verso (ff. 1-58, rectos only); together with a further transcript, of Byron's 'The Lament of Tasso', in the hand of Mrs Frances Morres Gore, whose initials, dated 23 July 1823, appear on f. 63 verso (ff. 59-63 verso).
A Civil War letter, 9 July 1645, from John Byron, 1st Baron Byron of Rochdale, to Col. Sir John Owen of Clenennau has been tipped in on f. iii, probably because its author, like the poet, was a Byron.

Draft, [1639x1648], of ‘A short narration of occurrences in ye kingdome of Scotland and ye present troubles, together with their cause and progression’, together with a draft of ‘questions touching upon obedience to magistrates in eminency’.

Letters exchanged between members of the Maurice and Owen families of Clenennau and Brogyntyn, and other correspondence from friends or associates in Wales and England, together with a number of important official documents deriving from county administration in Caernarfonshire during the Tudor and Stuart periods, 1485, 1573-1698. Many of the early letters and papers, 1580-1622, relate to the joint deputy lieutenancy in Caernarfonshire of Sir William Maurice and Sir John Wynn, showing their preoccupation with the raising and organisation of militia troops for the defence of Caernarfonshire and for despatch to Ireland. Other topics include Sir William Maurice's position as deputy vice-admiral of North Wales and the protracted civil lawsuits in which he was engaged. The collection also constitutes an important historical source for the conduct of the Civil War in North Wales. Items from that period primarily concern Sir John Owen and his brother, Col. William Owen, Royalist commanders at Conwy and Harlech respectively, and their subsequent treatment under the Commonwealth and Restoration, 1643-1666. Many of the letters from 1678 to 1698 reveal the life of Sir Robert Owen, his debts, estate business, cultural interests and attachment to the Jacobite cause, together with contemporary political news. Apart from individuals already mentioned, prominent correspondents include the Privy Council of Elizabeth I, mostly through Henry Herbert, President of the Council in the Marches of Wales, 1587-1600; Sir Henry Johnes of Abermarlais, 1605-1616; Ralph, Lord Eure, 1607-1617; members of the Brynker family, 1603-1681; the Wynn family of Glyn and Sylfaen, 1625-1697; the Anwyl family of Park, 1636-1693; Charles I, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, 1642-1647; Lord Byron, 1644-1648; John Williams, Archbishop of York, 1645-1646; George Twisleton, 1649-1660; the Godolphin family of Abertanat, 1658-1698; John Gadbury, 1679-1688; and Edward Lhuyd, 1696-1697.