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Bards and bardism.
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Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers and note-books containing notes, extracts, transcripts, lists, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents of pp. 53-60, 73, 75, 86-9, 91, 143-206, 209-17, 233-8, and 279-90 consist mainly of lists or groups of Welsh words and phrases sometimes with English definitions and/or illustrative excerpts from the works of Welsh poets. Some of these lists or groups contain words extracted from one source such as poems by, or attributed to, Taliesin, or to be found in 'The Book of Taliesin', John Bunyan: Taith y Pererin, William Wotton: Cyfreithieu Hywel Dda . . . (London, 1730), etc. P. 13 is inscribed 'Glynn Papers 1821. Customs of the Manor of the Lordship of Coity Wallia. From a Copy in the Hand Writing of Richard Jenkins, Esqr., of Hensol Castle, Glamorgan, 1714', and is followed (pp. 17-27) by an incomplete copy of the presentments of a jury of survey for the lordship and manor of Coyty Wallia aforesaid [co. Glamorgan], 1631 [/2]. Other items in the volume include pp. 33-6, anecdotes relating to the brothers Richard and William Twrch and the building of the chapel (1586) and the porch (1600) at Bewper [ co. Glamorgan], with references to Inigo Jones (see also NLW MS. 13089E above); 37-41, a copy of Sir Walter Scott's 'Hymn to Christopher North, Esqr.' transcribed from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, April 1821; 45-9, notes relating to the ruins of a ?Roman 'glass and pottery manufactory' near Caer Rhun [co. Caernarvon], and to nature in the languages and literatures of Wales and England; 69-71, a transcript of the answers to a questionnaire relating to the parish of Llantrithyd [co. Glamorgan]; 72, stanzas of ?two Welsh hymns; 83-4, notes on differences in the use of the verb in the Welsh of North and South Wales; 107-10, notes relating to the Welsh bardic tradition, more particularly the use of triads by the bards, with examples of such bardic triads and English translations; 112, a list of the persons (?commissioners) in whose presence the 'eisteddfod' was held at Caerwys [co. Flint] in 1565 (sic) and of the bards and musicians who were licensed at the said 'eisteddfod'; 113-34, ?extracts from [Paul Henri] Mallet: Northern Antiquities . . . [? the translation from the French by Thomas Percy, London, 1770] and [Joseph] Ritson: A Select Collection of English Songs (1783); 135-41, draft proposals for publishing a multi-volume work containing essays on aspects of Welsh literature, history, bardism, etc., with transcripts of, or extracts from, original Welsh documents and manuscripts relating thereto and English translations of the original source material (see Prospectus of Collections for a New History of Wales in Six Volumes . . . by Edward Williams (Carmarthen, 1819 )); 142, a note on the aims of 'Cymreigyddion Deheubarth, a Corresponding Literary (Philological) Society of South] W[ales]' and a list of six rules headed 'Unitarian Discipline and Polity'; 207-08, a list of Latin words, mainly common nouns, commencing with the letter v with English definitions and, occasionally, Welsh ? derivatives; 221, suggestions by E[dward] Williams re the cultivation of vineyards in Britain; 225-32, miscellaneous horticultural notes ('A New Method of propagating trees', 'A new . . . method of raising Cowcumbers', 'To ripen Grapes'), etc., extracted mainly from the Weekly Miscellany, [Philip] Miller: The Gardener's Dictionary . . ., and Ra[lph] Austen: A Treatise of Fruit Trees . . . ; (continued)

239-46, extracts ? from letters of L[ewis] Morris and a commonplace book of R[obert] Vaughan of Hengwrt relating to matters of Welsh etymological, bardic, and antiquarian interest, with comments, sometimes severely critical of the opinions expressed by Morris and Vaughan, added presumably by Edward Williams ('ignorance . . . inconsistency … willful lies, a complete triad of Lewis Morris' grand accomplishments', 'the abominable falshoods of Robert Vaughan'); 247 + 250, transcripts of 'englynion' attributed to Jenkin Richards and a note on Richards's religious attitudes (written on the blank margins, etc., of an incomplete copy of printed proposals, 1792, by [Sir] Herbert Croft for publishing a new edition of Dr . [Samuel] Johnson's Dictionary); 251-66, miscellaneous items including a list of the 'Names of Constellations in Wales', two notes relating to the bard Iolo [Goch], a note on a volume containing prophesies by various bards 'collected by Mr. Ellis Wynne of Las Ynys', ? an extract from a letter from W[illia]m Wynne to L[ewis] Mor[ris] relating to an ode by Goronwy [Owen] and his use of the 'Cadwyn fyr' measure, an extract from a letter from Edw[ar]d Llwyd to Robert Davies at Llannerch [co. Flint] referring to glass beads which may have been 'Roman or referable to our glain Neidr', an extract from a letter from R[ober]t Vaughan of Hengwrt to Archbishop Usher relating to the different yokes used in yoking oxen in Wales, a critical comment ? by Edward Williams on the opinions of Lewis Morris and [Robert] Vaughan of Hengwrt with regard to the story of Brutus, a brief note on 'The Cantref Breiniol' and the 'saith cantref' of Morganwg, an extract from a letter on the subject of freemasonry published in the Gentleman's Magazine, September 1794, lists of 'Y chwebeth a wnaeth i'r Brytaniaid golli anrhydedd ei Pendefigaeth', 'Meibion Cynfarch', 'Rhyfeddodau Ynys Prydain', 'Geiriau Gwir Taliesin', and 'Deuddeg pwnc cas gan Grist . . .', versions of the Lord's Prayer in Welsh, transcripts of four 'englynion' attributed to Huw Caerog, Huw Llyn, Hugh Pennant, and Wiliam Cynwal, and headed 'Englynion Eisteddfod Caerwys', extracts from various Welsh poems, etc.; 267-78, a fourteen point 'Outline of a Plan for a Complete and Superb History of the County of Glamorgan Sketched by Edward Williams, 1806'; 293 + 296, a memorandum of a proclamation, 1795, of a bardic meeting to be held at Pen Bryn Owain, co. Glamorgan, in 1796; 294-5, notes on Hywel Siôn of Brofeisgyn [co. Glamorgan] (2nd half 17th cent.) and 'Yr Hen Saphin' of Pen y bont ar Ogwr [co. Glamorgan] (? early 18th cent.), to both of whom many proverbial or popular sayings were attributed, and comments on the use of proverbs by the Welsh (? part of an introduction to a proposed collection of Welsh proverbs); 301-08, a copy of the introduction, the letter to the reader, and the notes on Arthur and his knights to be found at the beginning of Lewys Dwnn's volume of pedigrees of the families of cos. Carmarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan (see S. R. Meyrick (ed.): Heraldic Visitations of Wales . . . by Lewys Dwnn . . . (Llandovery, 1846), pp. 7-10); and 309, a list of 'Grammars in the possession of E. Williams' (? 'Iolo Morganwg').

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers containing lists, notes, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents are extremely varied and include miscellaneous series of Welsh triads including series with the superscriptions 'Trioedd Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal', 'Trioedd o Lyfr Esaia Pywel sef Trioedd Llelo Llawdrwm', 'Trioedd Iaith ac Ymadrodd Iorwerth Fynglwyd', 'Trioedd Dwyfolaeth', 'Trioedd athronddysg', 'Trioedd Serch Dafydd Morganwg Bardd Ifor Hael', and 'Trioedd Esaia Powel' (pp. 1-3, 12, 14-15, 18, 24, 26, 28, 30-33, 35, 54-5, 83); lists of Welsh words sometimes with English definitions (pp. 10, 81-2, 86-7, 91-2, 101, 103, 105-06, 115-16, 120, 127, 129-33, 138, 149-52, 157- 203, 244-5, 251-4); lists of Welsh proverbs and proverbial expressions including one list headed 'Meteorological and Terracultural proverbs in Glamorgan' (pp. 28, 69-72, 77-80, 107-08, 113-14, 260-61); notes relating to the order of Welsh bards and musicians (pp. 6-7); a copy of an English poem with the superscription 'Bardic Institutes Written at Carn Moesen an ancient Druidical pile on the top of Craig y Llynn Mawr, a high mountain in the northern part of Glamorgan in Wales' (pp. 20-22); miscellaneous genealogical notes (pp. 39-42); lists [of Glamorgan relevance] headed 'Tai Cre[fydd]' (p. 47), 'Hen Gaste[lloedd] . . . Morgan' (pp.48-9), 'Llysoed[d]' (p.50), 'Hen Drefydd' (p.50), 'Glamorgan Topography' (p. 52), 'Beirdd Morganwg' (p. 56), 'Villages in Glamorgan wherein Town Halls and Market houses are still standing and kept up in good repair. They were originally used for holding markets and Baronial Courts of the Lords Marchers, now the hall is used as a school room, for dancing, . . .' (pp. 64-5), 'Present Market Towns' (p. 65), 'Antiquities in Glam[organ]' (p. 66), and 'Old names in Glamorgan' (p. 98); a short list of the names of Welsh bards, 12th - 17th cent. (p. 53); Welsh stanzas with the superscription 'Bedd bennillion a gant I. Mg.' (p. 58); notes relating to a reputed attempt by King Arthur to regulate the rules relating to armorial bearings (p. 68); a chronological list of events in British / Welsh history, 5th - 6th cent. ( pp. 73-6); Welsh verse with the superscription 'Hen ddiarhebion ar fesur dyri gan Iolo Morganwg' (p. 77); two short Cornish-Silurian lists of words (pp. 85, 88); the first lines of thirty nine 'awdlau' and 'cywyddau' ? attributed to the poet Iolo Goch 'yn Llyfr R. Jones' (pp. 96-7); 'Deuddeg Cynneddf Doethineb' (p. 117); notes relating to the poet Rhys Goch ap Rhiccart and his possible imbibing of Norman - French poetic influences ( pp. 121-2); a brief note on the 'stile and dialect and idiom' of the Welsh bards (p. 128); notes relating mainly to the Glam[organ] system and the North Wales system [of Welsh strict metres] (pp. 136-7); an incomplete account of ? rules and regulations reputedly drawn up by King Arthur at a conference at Caerleon for regulating the conduct, etc., of the Welsh bardic order (pp. 225-8); notes headed 'Llyma'r Drefn a wnaeth yr Amherawdr Arthur ar Fonhedd ag Anfonedd yr hon drefn y dylai bob bardd ei gwybod . . .' (pp. 229-34); notes relating to successive Welsh princes, etc., who had drawn up or revised codes for regulating the conduct, etc., of the Welsh bards and musicians (p. 235); miscellaneous notes relating to Welsh bardism and strict metres (pp. 236-40, 264); miscellaneous extracts of varying length from the works of various Welsh poets sometimes to provide examples of specific words (pp. 241-56); and extracts 'Ex Cwtta Cyfarwydd o Forganwg' listing the cantrefi and cymydau of Glamorgan (p. 262). In one instance the blank dorse and margins of a printed pamphlet bearing the superscription 'An Affectionate Address to Colliers, Miners, and Labouring People', 1785 (pp. 61-2, 67-8) have been used for writing notes, and in two other instances notes have been written on leaves bearing two poems entitled 'War' and 'Liberty' attributed to Morgan Williams, 1821 (pp. 109-12) and a poem entitled 'Picture of a Good Man' attributed to Edward Martin, 1818 (pp. 101-02, 119-20).

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents include pp. 13-16, notes on the Welsh bardic order under the heading 'Cadair Tir Iarll'; 21-3, an incomplete, draft or variant version of a 'letter to the reader' [which Edward Williams had written as part of the intended preface to his volume Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain]; 25-8, notes on nine medieval kings of Glewisseg, the country 'lying between the River Usk on the side of Gwent and the River Elerch . . . on the side of Kibor in Glamorgan'; 29-31 and 37, transcripts of a Welsh poem entitled 'Cynneddfau amryw Barthau Cymru' attributed to Aneurin, and of a Welsh poem in the hexameter measure attributed to Dafydd o'r Nant; 34, a copy of a notice announcing that 'eisteddfodau' would be held at Corwen and Bala in [ ]; 39 + 42, a copy of an undated letter from 'D' to the editor of The Cambrian providing 'an English paraphrase' of a Welsh sonnet he had previously sent him; 45, a report in Welsh on opinions expressed by [John Moore] archbishop of Canterbury, and [Samuel Horsley], bishop of St. David's, in a debate in the House of Lords, 5 June 1793, concerning a proposal to send missionaries ? to India; 46, an incomplete copy of a letter in Welsh relating to the Moravian Church; 47-8, a transcript of a 'cywydd' attributed to Siôn Tudur; 49-52, a copy of the rules (English) of a society called the 'Berean Society'; 55, an incomplete list of ? the founders of churches in Glamorgan; 56, a note on Sir Robert Ffitsamon's policies in Glamorgan [late 11th cent.]; 60, a transcript of an English poem ? by E. Williams; 61, an extract relating to a nation of White Indians; 63, brief notes headed 'Bricks and Brickmaking'; 65-6, a transcript of a 'cywydd' attributed to Giles ap John; 67-8, an extract from the Gent[leman]'s Mag[azi]ne, April 1810, relating to the court leet of Pember, co. Hants.; 71-2, extracts relating to the use of a copper and tin alloy for making tools and weapons in ancient times; 73-4, an incomplete copy of a poem entitled 'Pennillion arferedig ym Morganwg ar ddydd Priodas'; 80, notes on the metrical foot in Welsh verse ('Corfannau Cerdd Dafod'); 82, ? an incomplete draft of the proposed title-page of [Edward Williams:] Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain; 85-9, a copy of the rules, etc. (Welsh) of a society called 'Cymdeithas y Bereaid' (see ref. to Berean Society above); 95-7, an incomplete transcript of a letter [1782] from the Rev. David Jones of Langan [co. Glamorgan], to the Countess of Huntingdon published in The Evangelical Magazine, January 1811 [p. 13], with versions of the said letter in English and Welsh verse; 98-100, a copy of an English poem described as the 'Birth day song of the Cardiff Gazette which was intended to be published on Saturday, January 2d 1813'; 107-10, a copy of ? a section of a letter referring to certain Welsh poetic metres, the poetic tradition in Gwynedd, and a book to be published by recipient ?relating to Welsh poetry; 116, brief notes relating to the poets Rhys Goch o Dir Iarll, D[afydd] ap Gwilym, and D[afydd] ap Edmwnd; 117, biographical notes on Thomas ap Evan ap Rhys, poet, born in the parish of Margam [co. Glamorgan] circa 1474; 124, transcripts of two 'englynion' attributed to Benjamin Dafydd 'o Langeinwyr'; 127, draft proposals by Edward Williams for publishing a volume to be called 'The Bardic Triades . . .'; 160, a sketch plan of a 'gorsedd' circle; 161-2, extracts from [David] Powel [: The Historie of Cambria now called] Wales; 168, a transcript of a 'cywydd' attributed to Meiric Dafydd; 175-7, autobiographical notes [by Edward Williams]; and 179-80, notes headed 'Queries in Rural Architecture, oeconomy, &c'. Interspersed among the items already noted are miscellaneous notes relating to Welsh literary, bardic, and antiquarian matters, lists of Welsh words, brief lists of miscellaneous Welsh triads, stanzas of English and Welsh verse, etc. Some of the notes are written on the blank verso, the margins, and even across the face of copies of a printed handbill issued by Henry Walters, March 1784, advertising his printing office in the town of Cowbridge, printed proposals, 1762, for the publication by the Cymmrodorion Society of a 'Natural History of the Quadrupeds and Birds of Great Britain and Ireland', a printed handbill (undated) setting forth the programme, etc. of a 'Society for the preservation of the remains of ancient British Literature . . . and for the encouragement of the National Music', etc.

Miscellaneous prose and poetry,

A composite volume ettered on the spine 'M.S.S. Vol. VI' containing miscellaneous material, chiefly in the hand of William Owen [-Pughe]. Pages 283-98 are in the hand of John Davies, Pentrefidog, and a note by him on p. 298 reads: 'Mae yn ddrwg ginni na allaswn ei wneuthur yn well yr wyf wedi mynd yn rhy garnbwl wedi gadel y 90. o oedran J:D.'. The contents include: pp. 1-6, 'The Laws of Menu. Memorandums'; p. 30, a brief word- list; pp. 45-96, a bardic grammar with examples of the twenty-four metres of Welsh poetry, beginning: 'Sillafeu a derfynant mewn dwy neu dair or bogeild . . . .', the text is preceded by a note: 'gwell [sic] y dechreu yn y Llyfr glas, Dwned S.Vn.'; p. 97, lines entitled 'To Beli', beginning: 'Mi rythiolaf buddig Beli . . .', with translation; pp. 99-101, 'Y Breiniau a roes Rhun i Wyr Arfon'; pp. 141-44, a list of the terms of rhetoric with Welsh equivalents; pp. 145-49, 'William Salbury yn danfon annerch ar Gruffudd Hiraethawc ag ar eraill of gelfyddyt, ex Autographo Salesburiano script 1552' (text published, see Henry Lewis: 'Llythyr William Salesbury at Ruffudd Hiraethog', The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, vol. II, pp. 113-18); p. 181, a note in shorthand and Hebrew; pp. 184-90, 197- 99, and 202-03, notes in shorthand; pp. 211-12, a shorthand-Hebrew vocabulary; pp. 213-14, a poem attributed to 'Gwyldrem Tarianmaon', beginning: 'Tan fyg Lywodraeth, Dewr Ymmerodraeth, Ynys Prydyn . . .'; pp. 215-17 & 222, an elegy to 'Robin Ddu o Fôn' [Robert Hughes], beginning: 'Cloed awdur gwaith clodadwy . . .'; pp. 225-28, a Welsh translation of the first two scenes of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth; p. 233, key to shorthand symbols; pp. 237-68, pages of shorthand; pp. 281- 82, 'Odlig newydd', seven stanzas beginning: 'Ar bethau o dragwyddol bwys . . .'; pp. 283-84, & 297-98, 'Cywydd yn dang[os] mor bur yw Cydymaith ag mor ffals yw un arall. o waith Thomas Price o blas yolyn', beginning 'Mae Bruson gyfion gyfion [sic] oedd gall . . .'; pp. 285-97, 'Hanes Merddyn ap Morfran', beginning: 'Y mae Prosess rhai or Awduron yn dangos fod gwr o fewn y wlad a elwir Nant Conwy . . .' and ending 'na gwr o drugiain mlwydd ar yr Awr hon'; p. 298, two 'englynion' by J:D. [John Davies, Pentrefidog], describing his handwriting in old age, beginning: 'Y llaw anhylaw yn hwylio/'r pinn . . .'; pp. 299 & 314, a note on the definition of God; pp. 300-342, notes on grammar and the parts of speech; p. 345, lines beginning : 'Hence Darkness! Light thy ancient seat regain . . .'; pp. 347 & 350, a list of place-names; and pp. 355-58 a note relating to Joanna [Southcott], dated 1803, and a passage concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Davies, John, Siôn Dafydd Berson, 1675-1769