Brut Ieuan Brechfa; Brut Aberpergwm; triads, etc.
- NLW MS 13121B.
- File
- [1785x1826]
Part of Llanover Manuscripts
A composite volume containing miscellaneous historical and literary material in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). Pp. 24-36 contain a transcript of a version of the medieval Welsh Chronicle of the Princes associated with the name of the fifteenth century poet and genealogist Ieuan Brechfa with the title or superscription 'Brut y Tywysogion . . . a dynnwyd o Lyfrau Caradawc Llancarfan ac eraill o hen Lyfrau Cyfarwyddyd a ysgrifenodd Ieuan Brechfa'. The transcript was allegedly made by Edward Williams from a volume in the possession of Rhys Thomas, printer, of Cowbridge, and the text was published in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, vol. II, 1801, pp. 470-565 (bottom section of pages). Pp. 37-135 contain one of the two known reputed transcripts by Edward Williams of the allegedly variant version of the aforesaid Welsh Chronicle of the Princes known as 'Brut Aberpergwm' or the 'Gwentian Brut'. The title or superscription reads 'Llyma Vrut y Tywysogion val y bu Ryfeloedd a Gweithredoedd enseiliaid a Dialeddau a Rhyfeddodau gwedi eu tynnu o'r hen gofion cadwedig a'u blynyddu'n drefnedig gan Garadawc Llancarfan', and the text was reputedly transcribed by [Edward Williams] 'Iorwerth Gwilym' in 1790 from one of the manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Richards, curate of Llangrallo [co. Glamorgan], who, in turn, had reputedly copied the work in 1764 from a manuscript in the possession of George Wiliams of Aber Pergwm [co. Glamorgan] (see p. 135). For the other reputed transcript of this text allegedly from the same source see NLW MS 13113B (Llanover C. 26) above. Other items in the volume include pp. 13-18, variant versions of parts of the introductory section to Lewis Dwnn's Visitations (see S. R. Meyrick (ed.): Heraldic Visitations of Wales . . . by Lewys Dwnn (Llandovery, 1846), pp. 7 and 9); 18-20, a list of eleven Welsh writers who had recorded the genealogies and deeds of the Welsh ('sgrifennyddion a gadwasant gof am achau a gweithredoedd y Cymry') allegedly copied from a book in the possession of Ben Simon 'y Bardd o Borth Myrddin'; 20-24, a further list of twenty Welsh poets or writers who had written about Wales and the island of Britain ('Enwau'r Prydyddion Awdurdodol . . . a ysgrifenasant am Wlad Gymru ac am Ynys Prydain') (see IM, t. 308); 136-7, a note by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' in 1801 on the attribution of works to ancient writers and poets such as Caradawc o Lancarfan, Taliesin, etc.; 138-57, another account of the quarrels between Iestin fab Gwrgan, lord of Glamorgan, and Rhys fab Tudur, prince of South Wales, and between the said Iestin and Einion ab Collwyn, the invitation to Sir Rhobert fab Hamon and the Norman knights to intervene, the consequent conquest of Glamorgan by the Normans, and the division of the country between Sir Rhobert and his twelve knights, with brief notes on the subsequent holders of the thirteen original divisions ('Hanes y Tri Marchog ar Ddeg a ddaethant i Forganwg yn Amser Iestin ab Gwrgan', allegedly transcribed from a volume in the possession of the Reverend Thos. Basset of Lann y Lai, co. Glamorgan); 158- 61, notes on variations in a second version of the account of the conquest of Glamorgan (pp. 138-57) to be found in the aforesaid Mr. Bassett's volume; 163-4, a list of Glamorgan bards with the places where they lived; 179 + 182, a brief chronicle of historical and pseudo-historical events in British history, 2nd - 5th century A.D.; 183, notes on an 'eisteddfod' held at Carmarthen in the time of Rhys ab Tewdur; 191-4, notes on Sir Robert Fitzhamon and his twelve knights and 'chronological notes from the Encyclopaedia Britanica'; 195-223, transcripts of three series of triads with the superscriptions 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain o'r Delyn Ledr ymha Lyfr yr oeddent wedi eu hysgrifennu o Lyfr Mr. Robert Vaughan o Hengwrt' (91), 'Trioedd y Meirch' (11), and 'Llyma ychwaneg o Drioedd Ynys Prydain allan o Lyfr Mr. Robert Vaughan o Hengwrt' (4); 224, an anecdote relating to Maelgwn Gwynedd; 225-31, transcripts of Welsh verse attributed to Lewys Môn, Taliesin, and Cattwg ddoeth; 231-3, lists of proverbial or wisdom sayings headed 'Llyma Gynghorion Cattwg ddoeth', 'Llymma Goreuau Cattwg Sant ab Gwynlliw', and 'Llymma Goreuau Meugant Bardd Cystenin Fendigaid'; 233-51, transcripts of series of triads with the superscriptions 'Llyma Drioedd a gant Iolo Morganwg', 'Trioedd Cattwg Sant', 'Llymma Drioedd a dalant eu hystyrio cyn gwreicca', 'Llymma Drioedd y Gwragedd priod', and 'Llyma Drioedd o hen Lyfr Lewys Hopcin'; 257-66, transcripts of Welsh poems and exemplary verse attributed to Mab claf i Lywarch, Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd, and Dafydd Nanmor; 271-5, an incomplete series of triads (5 + part of 6) with the superscription 'Llymma Drioedd Cof Cyfarwydd yn son am hynodion o wyr ac o betheu a fuant gynt yn Ynys Prydain . . .' (pp. 267-70, with p. 267 inscribed 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain o Lyfr Iaco ab Dewi gan Rys Thomas, Argraphydd, a fu gynt yn eiddo Twm Siôn Catti', were probably formerly the upper and lower covers of a home-made booklet intended to contain a version of the third series of 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain' of which the contents of pp. 271-5 are probably a fragmentary draft (see Rachel Bromwich: 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain' in Welsh Literature and Scholarship (Cardiff, 1969), p. 13)); 287-300, an alphabetical list of old Welsh words with modern equivalents; 303-09, brief notes headed 'Some account of the Welsh Bards'; 315-17, etymological and other miscellaneous notes; 318, transcripts of a short series of Welsh triads called 'Trioedd yr Addurneu' and of four 'englynion' attributed to [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg'; 319, a brief note relating to ? Nonconformist meetings associated with Blaen Gwrach [co. Glamorgan]; 327-34, a transcript of the poem 'Kad Goddeu' attributed to Taliesin; 335-8 notes relating to a Unitarian society called 'Gwyr Cwm y Felin' which allegedly flourished at Cwrn y Felin, co. Glamorgan, in the eighteenth century with a reference to Edward Williams's attitude to Unitarianism (see TLLM, tt. 215, 239, 314, and IM, t. 73); (continued)
339-47, notes relating to developments in Welsh metrics and literature to the late eighteenth century; 349-50, notes on the 'Cimmerii' or 'Cimbri', etc.; 351, a note on the connection between the freemasons and St. Alban; 352, a list of the princes of Glamorgan from the time of Aedd Mawr to the time of Iestin ap Gwrgan; 363-5, transcripts of two poems attributed to Morgan Talhai 'o Lansanffraid Fawr ym Morganwg'; 371-4, historical memoranda relating to Gower including an incomplete list of the lords of Gower from the time of Henry I onwards; 375-82, etymological and historical notes relating to the names and regions of Gwent / Essyllwg / Morganwg (mention of 'Ragland Castle Library, the best collection of old Welsh MSS. that ever existed'); 383-4, a note on the possible antiquity of the period of the formation of the Welsh language; 384-90, miscellaneous poetic and other extracts mainly Welsh, and lists of the names of the months in Armoric and Cornish; 393-4 a transcript of an eight-stanza English poem by Taliesin Williams 'written at the Lamb and Flag, Vale of Neath, 1816'; 401-03, a draft copy of an advertisement for the proposed publication of a Welsh quarterly magazine to be called 'Goleugrawn Deheubarth', the first issue to appear in June 1818; 407-11, extracts from [William] Coxe: [An Historical Tour in] Mon[mouth]shire . . . (London, 1801), part 11, appendix 1; 415-18, a copy of a tale relating to King Arthur and his knights sleeping in a cave full of treasure at Craig y Ddinas; 419-22, extracts from [P. H.] Mallet [: Northern Antiquities . . .] and the works of Caedmon; 423-30, notes headed 'Plan of the Analytical Dissertation on the Welsh Language by E[dward] W[illiams]'; 431-5, brief notes relating to the cultivation of literary languages and 'the mode of examining or investigating the principles on which any language has been formed'; 436, a brief list of the 'numerous names of God' in Welsh; 440 + 453, notes relating to ? earth tremors in the area between Cowbridge and the sea in July and August 1809; 445-8, notes headed 'Preface to History of the Bards - hints', with references to the work of [Edward] Jones ['Bardd y Brenin']; 455-7, extracts from [George] Lytte[l]ton : [The] History of [the Life of King] Henry the Second; 457-9, miscellaneous triads; 460-61, extracts from poems by Tudur Aled and G[uto'r] Glyn to abbots of Lanegwystl; 471-82, two sets of notes headed 'On Welsh Literature. Miscellaneous' and 'Cardigan and North Pembroke Dialects' containing general observations on the nature, etc., of Welsh literature and the Welsh language with references to classes held for learning to read Welsh; 482-6, notes on a reputed Welsh bard 'Keraint Vardd Glas otherwise Y Bardd Glas Keraint seemingly the Glaskerion of Chaucer'; 487-91, copies of two rhetorical prose exercises in the form of two love-letters in Welsh addressed by a member of the Powel family of Llwydiarth [co. Glamorgan] to a young lady; 491-500, a brief sketch in Welsh of the history of Morgannwg from the time of Morgan Mwynfawr to the time of the Tudors reputedly from a volume once in the possession of the Reverend Mr. Gamais (Gamage), vicar of St. Athan [co. Glamorgan], and then in the possession of Mr. John Spencer of the same parish; 501-05, transcripts of two letters reputedly exchanged between the sixteenth century poets Siôn Mowddwy and Meirig Dafydd concerning criticism by the latter of the former's verse, mention being made by Meirig Dafydd of the rival Welsh strict-metre systems of Dafydd Emwnt and the bards of Morgannwg (for references to manuscript and published versions of these letters see IMCY, t. 167, and TLLM, t. 86, n. 26-7, and for the opinion that Meirig Dafydd's reply was composed by Edward Williams himself see TLLM, t. 78, n. 6, and t. 86); 505, 'Llyma bump Tywysawglwyth Cymru'; 507- 12, an incomplete list of twenty four early kings of Britain recounting their feats and accomplishments ('Hanes Pedwar Brenin ar hugain a varnwyd yn henna ac yn wrola o'r Brutaniaid i Ddeiliaid ag i Gwncwerio'); 513-16, notes on the lineage of Iestyn ap Gwrgan ('Llyma wehelyth Iestyn ap Gwrgan un o bump Brenhinllwyth Cymru a Phen hynaif Tywysogion Ynys Prydain' reputedly 'o Lyfr Thomas Hopkin o Langrallo'); etc. In three instances notes have been written on the blank verso or margins of printed copies of the following - an abstract of a report on a meeting, May 1820, of the governors and friends of the medical charitable organisation known as the Welsh Dispensary (171-8), proposals for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral in 1792 (180-81), and an advertisement for letting 'a desirable family residence' in Cardiff (184-5).