File NLW MS 5281B - Historia Daret, Historia y Brenhinedd, &c.

A transcript made in 1575 by Sir Thomas Williams ('physycwr', 'o Drefriw') of an ancient manuscript written on vellum and then in the possession of Maurice Wynn of Gwydir. It contained a Llevelys version of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'Historia y Brenhinedd' preceded by 'Historia Daret'. In the transcript 'Historia Daret' wants seven or eight pages of its beginning, and ends ' . . . dwy vil a phumcant o ganlyniawdd Antenor, mil a deucant Helenus ac Andromacha. Yd hynn ydd sycrivened historia Daret', with a list following of names of Greek and Trojan warriors slain by leaders on either side. 'Historia y Brenhinedd' begins (without the prologue): 'Aeneas yscwyddwyn wedi ymladd Tro a destryw y gaer . . .' and ends: 'Ac yuelly y tervyna istoria y brenhined cenedl vrython ynys Brydein ac ymladeu Tro a Groec'. The text is followed by a short Latin poem beginning: 'Bruti posteritas Albanis associata . . .' There is also a Welsh 'englyn' on a blank page between the two texts and at the beginning of the volume are two letters from W. W. E. Wynne (Peniarth) to a former owner of the manuscript, 1875.