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A volume of transcripts by Mary Richards, including 'cywyddau' and 'englynion' by Dafydd ap Gwilim, Thomas Pryse, Robert ap Howel ap Morgan ('o Langower'), David Llwyd ap Hugh, Gruffydd ab Meredydd ab Dafydd, Sion Philip ('ne Owen Gwynedd'), R[obert] Leiaf, Tudur Aled, Dafydd Emanuel, Dio ap Ie[ua]n Du, [Lewys] Morganwg, S[ion] Tuddur, Howel ap Gytto, W. Llwyd, Gruff. Llwyd ap D'd ap Einion, Ifan Tew Brydydd, Gytto or Glyn, etc., and anonymous poetry; later poetry of personal and local interest, in both strict and free metres (especially 'englynion') by (among others) John Blackwell ('Alun'), Walter Davies ('Gwallter Mechain'), [John Jones] ('Myllin'), Sion Cain Jones ('Sion Ceiriog'), Evan Jones (Gwyneddon, Aberhonddu), Richard Hughes (rector of Llany Mowddwy), Thomas Elis (Caerwys), Robert Davies ('Bardd Nantglyn'), R. Llwyd (Llangynyw), David Rowland(s) ('Dewi Brefi'), Evan Evans (['Ieuan] Glangeironydd'), John Robert (Hersedd), David Richards ('Dewi Silin'), Cadwaladr Dafydd (Llan y Mowddwy), Jon. Evans (Glandyfi), Sion Prys (Mowddwy) ('o Bennant'), Morris Jones ('Meurig Idris'), Dafydd Ellis (Mowddwy), David Jones (Llwyn y Maen), Mr Philips ('or Hays'), Goronwy Owen ('Goronwy Ddu o Fôn'), John Davies (Dolgoch, Llanbrynmair), [William Williams] 'Gwilim ab Iorwerth' (Darowen), [John Athelstan Owen] ('Bardd Meirion'), [William Williams] ('Gwilym Cyfeiliog'), Thomas Jones (Llynlleifiad), Rowland Parry (Llanuwchllyn), [Benjamin Jones] ('P. A. Mon'), 'Cynddelw ab David ab Thomas ab Richard ab Thomas (Hirnant), Evan Jones ('Saer Darowen') and Aneurin Owen, and anonymous poetry; letters largely to members of the Richards family of Darowen from James Evans, secretary, Cymrod[or]ion or Metrepolitan [sic] Cambrian Institution, 1821 (the election of Mary Richards to honorary membership), T. Price ('Carnhuanawg'), Crickhowel, 1833 (the preservation of the Welsh language), Robert Davies (Dafydd), Nantglyn, 1820-34 (2) (visits to the recipients, the writer's search for books of 'Diliau Barddas'), John Jones, Bryn Derfel, 1833 (an invitation), Edward Davies, 1829 (a parcel from [John] Blackwell ['Alun'], a proposed visit), Richd. Owen, Hendre Gadog, 1811 (a translation by Goronwy Owen), [Anthony Ashley-Cooper 7th earl of Shaftesbury, styled] Lord Ashley, 1827 (Denbigh eisteddfod), John Evan, Llanfyllin, undated [1826] (the illness of 'Myllin'), Reginald Heber [aft. bishop of Calcutta] Hodnet, 1822 (a donation towards the education of Evan Evans [?'Ieuan Glan Geirionydd']), John Robert, Herseth, Nannerch, 1824 (subscribing to Y Gwyliedydd) and John Blackwell ('Alun'), Aberhiw, 1826 (an account of festivities at Darowen Vicarage), and an original letter from W[alter] D[avies] ['Gwallter Mechain'], 1816 (a carol for publication in Cylchgrawn Cymru); and miscellanea, including an obituary notice of the Reverend Daniel Rowland [Llangeitho] by the Reverend Thos. Charles, Bala, 1790, a treatise on angling entitled 'Am Bysgota', an introduction to a text book on music ('Music Soniarus'), incomplete depositions of 'old men' (Hugh Jones etc.) touching the boundaries and rights and liberties of properties in Llan Mowddwy, Merioneth, 1788, household and medical recipes, an anecdote concerning the Prince of Wales (aft. King Edward VII), etc. Inset is a prospectus, 1822, 'For Publishing, by Subscription, in the Welsh Language, a book called The Reformation of Wales; containing the destruction of monasterys and a correct account of several Cambri Britons who suffer'd Martyrdom ... by William Owen' (See William Owen Drych Crefyddol, Lle'rpwll, 1824). Much of the volume was probably compiled during the late 1840's, but there are additions to the early 1870s.

A minute book of the Berriew branch of the Montgomeryshire Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1818-20, together with lists of subscriptions and donations, 1818-25, and an account of Bibles distributed in the parish, 1819-23. The volume was subsequently used by Mary Richards to record poetry in strict and free metres ('englynion', 'cywyddau', etc.) by Ellis Roberts (Llanddoget), Dafydd Thomas (Llanfyllin), Robert Dafydd (Nantglyn), J. Robert (Hersedd), [William Williams] 'Gwilym Caledfryn', Owen William ([Waunfawr] Caeryn Arfon), [Robert Parry] 'Robin Ddu [Eryri]' (Carnarfon), W[illiam Ellis] J[ones] '[Gwilym] Cawrdaf', Isaac Llwyd, J[ohn] A[thelstan] O[wen] ('Bardd Meirion'), John Blackwell ('Alun'), 'D. Huw Cynwyd', E[van] E[vans] ('[Ieuan] Glan Geirionydd), W. Edwards (Corwen), [John Davies] 'Brychan', [John Jones] 'Myllin', Sion Tudur, Lewis Mon, Mathew Owen, Owen Gryffyth, [Morris Jones] 'Meuric Idris', ?Edward Davies, ?Lewis Hughes, Aneurin Owen, David Richard ('[Dewi] Silin') W[alter] D[avies] ('Gwallter Mechain') and Robert Parry (Eglwysfach), and anonymous poems; letters from Jno. Owen [curate of] Llanlligan to T[homas] Richard[s], Llan y Mowddwy, 1786 (the possibility of receiving charitable donations, a request for a sermon, articles left by the writer at Llanuwchllyn and Nantglyn) (original letter in Cwrtmawr MS 1043), Richa[r]d Owen, Hendre Gadog to O. Williams, Bwlch, Pentraeth, 1811 (enclosing a translation into Welsh by Goronwy Owen of 'The lass of the brow of the Hill', a wedding ?at Plas Gwyn, personal), Hugh Thomas, London to John Edward, Llan y Mowddwy, 1798 (the death of the recipient's son John), 'Myfyr Nan[t]glyn' to D[avid] Richard[s] '[Dewi] Silin'), undated (poetry by the writer), [Rev.] John Humphreys, Cilyllwyn [Bodfari] to R[ichard] Richards, Caerwys, 1826 (statistics of Nonconformist membership in Liverpool, Manchester, Chester and London), Owen William [?'Owen Gwyrfai'], Waunfawr to [ ], 1845 (a request for a Madam Bevan school, with references to B[recte P.] B[ailey] Williams and [David Thomas] 'D Ddu o Eryri'), D. Hughes to D[avid] Richards, Llansilin, undated (the formation of a Branch Bible Society), Thomas Jones, Castell to T[homas] Richards, Darowen, 1835 (the payment of county rate for the hundred of Mowddwy), etc.; a statement of 'The Crown of England's Title to America', based on the discovery by Prince Madog ab Owen Gwynedd; numerical tables of sermons left by Lewis Richards, Llan Erful and Richard Richards, Caerwys, arranged under each book of the Bible; directions to apply on behalf of a blind person for an annuity of £10 from the charity of John Merlot, alderman of the city of Bristol; etc. Some of the 'cywyddau' are said to have been transcribed from a manuscript of Owen Gryffydd [Llanystumdwy].

Poems by John Jones ('Tegid'), William Owen [-Pughe], Goronwy Owen, etc.; letters, mainly to Sir John Bernard Bosanquet, from John Jones ('Tegid'), Hugh Davies, Angharad Llwyd, William Owen [-Pughe] and others; and miscellaneous notes on Welsh books, etc.

Miscellaneous papers containing notes, transcripts, extracts, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together into one volume. The contents include pp. 1-16, extracts from the works of various Welsh bards under the superscription 'Bardic allusions to ancient usages, institutions, ideas, &c.'; 16, a list of the seven attributes of God ('Saith Angheneddyl Duw'); 16-17, a group of eight Welsh triads attributed to Syr Wiliam Herbert of Raglan; 18-19, a brief note on the Irish in Anglesey and North Wales; 19-20, Biblical allusions to the practice of writing on wood; 22-3, further extracts from the works of Welsh poets similar to those on pp. 1-16; 25, Welsh triads; 26, a transcript of an 'englyn' attributed to Evan Evans y Prydydd Hir; 27, three stanzas of a Welsh poem headed 'Pennillion Iolo Morganwg'; 34-5, a list of thirty-six 'Southwalian Gogynfeirdd'; 35, a brief note on Gruffudd ap Cynan's introduction of 'Scaldic Literature', etc., into Wales; 36-7, notes on the use of the 'englyn milwr' measure by 'Southwalian Bards', and on the meaning of the word 'anaw' and of the element 'chwyfan' in the name of the Flintshire antiquity 'Maen chwyfan'; 38-9, a list of 'Writers on the Art of Poetry now Extant' in South Wales and N[orth] Wales; 41, a query relating to 'the Caerwys Bards or Eisteddfod'; 41, a note on the Welsh bards' refusal to introduce fiction into poetry; 42-4, notes headed 'On Coelbren y Beirdd'; 45-50, notes headed 'Bards of the 11th to the 13th centuries' stressing the impact on Welsh poetry of the Scandinavian Scaldic influence introduced via the court of Gruffudd ap Cynan; 51-9, notes headed 'Bards of the 15th Century in S[outh] Wales' dealing mainly with the influence of Norman and Provencal poetry on the twelfth century Welsh poet Rhys Goch ap Rhys ap Rhiccart and other Welsh bards via the courts of the Norman lords in Glamorgan, its continuance in the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym, etc.; 60-73, notes headed 'Modern Poetry of North Wales' containing general, mainly derogatory comments on North Wales poetry from the seventeenth century onwards with references to Lewys Morris, Edward Morris, Hugh Moris, Rice Jones of Blaenau, Goronwy Owain, and other poets, the practice of borrowing or imitating metres from English songs and ballads, the results of the literary competitions inaugurated by the Gwyneddigion Society, etc.; 74-92 notes headed 'Modern South Walian Poetry' dealing mainly with the 'song writing' or 'popular poetry' tradition in South Wales as contrasted with North Wales; 93-6, notes relating largely to the tale called 'Cyfarwyddyd Einiawn ap Gwalchmai a Rhiain y Glasgoed'; 97-102, miscellanea headed 'Mân bethau perthynas (sic) i'r Beirdd a Barddoniaeth'; (continued)

104-08, notes relating to the society commonly known as 'Gwyr Cwm y Felin' which existed at Cwm y Felin in Betws Tir Iarll [co. Glamorgan], with references to its connection with the druidical and bardic tradition and its association with Lollardy in the past and Unitarianism in the present (see NLW MS 13121B above); 109, a transcript of three stanzas of Welsh verse headed 'Myned yn y maen. To take the chair. . .'; 110, notes on a theory that there were two poets called Dafydd Nanmor, the one a grandson of the other; 121, a list of seven rules headed 'Some Rules of Welsh versification'; 122, a 'scheme' or chapter headings for a 'History of the Bards'; 123-46, a short essay or article on the 'History of the Welsh Language' containing observations on the three main dialects, viz. Silurian, Demetian, and Venedotian, their use in Welsh literature, etc.; 147-9, lists of early bishops of Llandaf and of the bishops of Wales before the time of Garmon ('Escobion Cymru Cynog Amser Garmon'), and notes on the meaning of the words 'cor' and 'bangor'; 151-3, a pedigree of the ? Williams family of Aberpergwm; 163-88, notes and extracts relating to the manufacture of beet sugar, the cultivation of trees and potatoes, the making of varnishes, wines, etc., and medicinal recipes; 201-02, a note headed 'Bards secret and gripe'; 203, a list headed 'Proverbial and idiomatic expressions in Glamorgan'; 215-18, transcripts of miscellaneous Welsh verse including two 'englynion tawddgyrch cadwynog' attributed to Edward Evan 'o Aberdar' and Lewys Hopcin of the parish of Llandyfodwg [co. Glamorgan], an 'englyn' attributed to Siôn Tudur, and six stanzas headed 'Y Credadyn ar farw idd ei enaid' being reputedly a translation from Pope's ode entitled 'The dying Christian to his soul', and extracts from 'cywyddau' attributed to Edmund Prys; 228, notes headed 'Gwehelyth y Simwniaid'; 229, a note on madness in dogs; 240-41, a list of Welsh names of fruits; 247-53, extracts from The Monthly Review, 1790, vol. I, including a transcript of 'Robinson's Elegy on leaving Westminster College'; 278, a note referring to the tradition relating to the alleged Trojan colonization of Italy; 285-6, a ? draft of proposals for publishing a Welsh religious and literary journal to be called 'Goleugrawn Deheubarth Cymry', publication to be annually or quarterly, the first number to appear towards the beginning of 1817; 303- 05, an extract relating to 'healing wounded trees'; 310-11, notes on a proposed 'water wheel at ye present forge [at Kevan] . . ., 29 Jan. 1787'; 315-16, a horticultural note and a medicinal recipe; and 321-7, transcripts of three 'cywyddau' ? attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym. Also found on various pages are groups or lists of Welsh words, miscellaneous Welsh triads, and other miscellaneous items. Some of the notes have been written on the blank verso or in the margins of copies of printed leaflets advertising 'Sea Bathing' and 'Genteel Lodgings' at the Ball, Swanbridge, seven miles from Cardiff, the wares of Tucketts and Fletcher, Bristol (Tucketts and Fletcher, grocers and tea-dealers, no. 11, Corn-Street, Bristol ([Bristol], [1795?], ESTC T230410)), and the wares of E. M. Downing at his 'Grand Musical Repository', Bristol, and a printed copy of 'An Elegy on the late Reverend John Wesley'.