Miscellaneous papers containing notes, lists, jottings, etc., of an extremely varied nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents include pp. 15-18, ? a draft of a proposed title-page and table of contents (as per chapter) of a proposed work by Edward Williams to be called 'Dissertations Historical and Critical on the Ancient British Bards and Druids'; 24, a brief note mentioning a dissenting congregation at Blaen Cannaid [co. Glamorgan] circa 1690, which split into three sections which moved (i) to Cwm y Glo, (2) to Llanvabon and thence to Hengoed, and (3) to Mynwent y Cwacers and thence to Tref y Rhyg; 26, a brief note on [the Reverend John] Walters; 27, a list of eleven topics under the superscription 'An Analytical Dissertation on the Welsh Language' (? an outline plan for a book); 30, a list of Welsh historical source material headed 'Documents of Ancient British History. Translated from the Welsh. By E. Wms' (? relevant to a proposed volume); 31, a list of ? chapter subject headings under the superscription 'Historical Dissertations on ye an[cien]t Brit[ish] B[ar]ds and Dr[ui]ds' (? relevant to a proposed volume); 45, a list headed 'Testunau Barddoniaeth a roddwyd yngorsedd Alban Arthan ar Ben Bryn Owain ym Morganwg . . . 1796'; 49 + 51, a copy of the reputed Welsh bardic alphabet ('Llymma ddarddangos ar Goelbrenn y Beirdd . . .'); 57-8, brief notes relating to American Indians; 65, brief notes on Venantius Fortunatus's opinion concerning the harp, etc. (from [J. C.] Walker: Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards) and on Dafydd Williams, vicar of Penllin [co. Glamorgan], ob. 1690; 67-9, 73-4, 155, philosophical notes relating to 'savagism', the suppression of evil, marks of civilisation, etc.; 79-81, further notes relating to ? American Indians; 85, a note on the advantages and disadvantages of Glamorgan as a place for 'elegant rural retirement'; 87-8, extracts from, or comments on statements in, the Cambrian Visitor [1813]; 94-6, ? a copy of a letter to Dafydd Sanders criticising some of his poetic work including an 'awdl'; 104-05, a note relating to 'coelbren y beirdd'; 122, 135, 228, a few miscellaneous triads; 123-7, notes relating to Owen Jones ('Myfyr'), his connection with the Gwyneddigion Society, his part in the publication of the Myvyrian Archaiology, and his project for transcribing the works of the Welsh bards employing 'Charles and Vaughan . . . to transcribe for him at so much per week together with victuals'; 154, a list of the 'Contents of Revd. Mr. Thomas of Bonvilston's MSS'; 157-8, 'Notes for A push at the pillars of Priestcraft'; 161-4, comments on baptism, communion, the formation of religious groups or societies without priests and upholding freedom of belief and conscience, etc.; 169, ? a list of the literary competitions at an 'eisteddfod' to be held at Carmarthen in August 1823; 177, a note on the English language; 179-81, notes relating to George Thomas of Lisworney [co. Glamorgan], circa 1650, and an extant manuscript volume containing religious treatises, expositions of scripture, etc., ? compiled by him; 186, notes on 'bargodfardd' and 'bargodiain'; 187, a transcript of three stanzas of English verse called 'The withered rose'; 189, a note on Dafydd Nanmor; 192, a brief note referring to early Christianity in Glamorgan and to 'Prince Morgan' from whom the country obtained its name; 197, a comment on 'eisteddfod Caerfyrddin', N.D.; 199, ? a draft of a proposed title-page for Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain; 201, notes relating to Maelgwn Hir, Talhaiarn Fardd, and Taliesin Ben Beirdd; 205-09, an account of the discovery of inscribed stones and of pottery near the village of Myddfai [co. Carmarthen] by J. J. Holford in 18 . . ., with copies of the inscriptions; 212, notes headed 'Amseryddiaeth Escob Usher'; 213-16, extracts from, or comments referring to, [Thomas] Pennant: Tour in Wales and [William] Bingley: A Tour Round North Wales [1800], Vol. II; 217, a note on the districts, hundreds, etc., of Glamorgan; 221, a list of names of persons headed 'Bridgend Quarry' (? owners or developers of); 225, a list of ? bardic grades ('Llyma fal y dosparthant y Trosedigion nid amgen na'r gwyr wrth addysg cerdd dafawd a'i pherthynasau'); 230, ? a list of chapter or section headings under the superscription 'Inquiries into the origin and Progress of Letters amongst the Ancient Britons' (? for a work of that title); 234, a list with the superscription 'Naw Cylmawd Cadair Cerdd dafawd'; 235, a short list of Welsh poets, 14th-15th cent., with dates and a few notes; 237, ? chapter or section headings for a study of the 'History of the Bards'; 239, notes with the superscription 'Appendix to the History of the Bards'; 241, a short list of 'Works on ancient mythology to be consulted illustrative of some things in the History of the Bards'; 245, draft proposals for a second edition of Edward Williams: Poems Lyric and Pastoral; 246, brief notes on the language, etc., of medieval Welsh poets, D[afydd ap] G[wilym], etc.; 247, a note on the wrongful attribution of poems to certain Welsh poets; 249, a brief note re the ancient literature of North Wales and the 'Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan'; 252, genealogical data; 255, a list of ? titles of English poems headed 'for printing' (some of these correspond to the titles of the poems in Edward Williams: Poems Lyric and Pastoral); (continued)
256, notes on Fonmon Castle, Boverton Court, and Lantrithyd house [co. Glamorgan]; 257, instructions or rules relating to the submission of poems in competitions for bardic chairs and for bardic grades ('am radd'); 263, 265-6, notes relating to the accentuation of Welsh words and the use of monosyllabic and polysyllabic words in this context; 264-5, a brief note on the 'peithynen' with suggestions that the English also had a method of writing by inscribing on wood; 269-70, draft proposals for publishing a Welsh version of a treatise on rhetoric by [Anthony] Blackwall ('Traethawd ar Areithyddiaeth O Saesoneg y dysgedig Dr. Blackwall gan [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg'); 272, a plan of a fruit garden; 275 + 279 + 281, a draft title-page for, or proposals for publishing, Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain; 284 + 289, lists of 'houses in Cowbridge' and 'houses in Lantwit'; and 286, notes on 'coelbren beithyn' and 'coelbren gildwrn'. Interspersed amongst these items are groups or lists of Welsh words, transcripts of Welsh verse, extracts from Welsh poems, and other historical and literary miscellanea. In some instances notes have been written on the blank dorse or margins of a printed leaflet, 1798, proclaiming that an invitation had been extended, 1797, to bards to repair to Primrose Hill, London, Tyle y Gawl, Glamorgan, and Caerwys [co. Flint], for bardic meetings; printed proposals for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral in 1792; a ? holograph note from Mr. Dunn from St. Athans, to Mr. [Edward] Williams re the erection of a monument (in third person); a printed leaflet advertising 'New Music written and composed by John Parry' which was for sale; a printed leaflet advertising the sale by auction at Newton Nottage, Glamorganshire, September 1813, of the 'materials of the sloop Friends'; a ? holograph letter from J[ohn] Hughes from Brecon, to Mr. Edwd. Williams, Merthyr Tydfil [circa 1822], relating to the writer's Essay [?Essay on the Ancient and Present State of the Welsh Language, 1822] being prepared for publication (the letter is endorsed with a note in the hand of Edward Williams stating that 'Mr. Job James the Printer of this work' was unable to complete the printing of the said work as soon as had been hoped owing to certain difficulties including the fact that his office' was not furnished with some types and characters that were found necessary' and that 'the ordering and waiting for them' had caused delay; this note does not refer to John Hughes's Essay but, in all probability, to Edward Williams's own work Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain, publication of which was held up for the reasons specified in the note ('o eisiau digon o lythyrennau argraph'; see the introduction to the work)); a ? holograph, undated note from B. Williams to Mr. Williams re sending twenty grains of crude opium; printed proposals for publishing Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain in 1821; and a printed circular dated 16 August 1820 containing an appeal for funds for the completion of a Unitarian chapel at Merthyr Tydfil.
