Showing 48 results

A volume containing journals of tours of Wales by Hugh Hughes (1790-1863), artist and author, during the years 1819-21. The English portions of the journals (1819-20) have been published in Wales, III, pp. 316-19, 353-8 and the Welsh portions (1820-1) in Cymru, VIII, pp. 21-4, 77-9, 133-7, 220-4, 265-6.

Personal diaries, 1892-1949, which include detailed accounts of his years in retirement at Barmouth, Merionethshire, from 1939 and subsequently at Ty'n y Ceunant, Islaw'r dref, Dolgellau; draft notebooks, 1895-1946, containing records of appointments, activities and descriptions of holiday visits, including many to Wales, detailed accounts of ascents of Cadair Idris, Merionethshire, and other British mountains, including Snowdon, Elidir Fach and Elidir Fawr in Caernarfonshire, and Pumlumon, Cardiganshire; registers of correspondence, 1939-1940, 1943-1944; a register of snapshots [which are not part of the archive], 1906-1940; a volume of statistics of his mountain ascents, holiday travels, and walks, 1892-1951, and family papers (including some relating to L. W. Brown of Bath), 1846-1926.

A volume containing journals of tours through parts of Wales, [27] July-11 August 1812 (ff. 1-45), and along the South Devon coast, 9-[20] August 1813 (ff. 46-71), by W[illiam] Evill of 12 Devonshire Buildings, Bath.
The Welsh tour consists of a journey from the New Passage, Monmouthshire, through Abergavenny, Brecon and Rhayader to Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, northwards through Talyllyn, Harlech, Maentwrog and Bala, all Merionethshire, on to Llangollen, then south through Shropshire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, crossing the River Severn at the Old Passage. The Devon tour consists of a journey from Bath, via Glastonbury and Exeter, to Plymouth, Devon, followed by the journey along the coast from Teignmouth, Devon, to Weymouth, Dorset. The writer describes becoming lost on the roads to and from Builth Wells (ff. 8 verso-11), climbing Cader Idris (ff. 19-21), the rivalry of innkeepers in Barmouth (f. 23 recto-verso), the sights of Llangollen (ff. 30-33), and visits to Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall (ff. 54 verso-56 verso), Devonport Royal Dockyard (ff. 57-59) and the partly completed Plymouth Breakwater (f. 59 recto-verso). There are also a few comments on French prisoners seen at Abergavenny (f. 7) and Oswestry (f. 34). Three hand-drawn maps showing the itinerary of the tours have been tipped into the volume (ff. 2 verso, 16, 47 verso). Engravings depicting English and Welsh views have been pasted into the volume; a minority of these relate to the tours (ff. i verso, 3, 43, 45 recto-verso, 72).

A journal of a tour of Wales undertaken between 31 August and 24 September 1836. The itinerary included London, Meriden, Shrewsbury, Llangollen, Capel Curig, Bettws[-y-Coed], Conway, Bangor, Caernarvon, Llanberis, Beddgelert, Tan y Bwlch [Maentwrog], Ffestiniog, Harlech, Dolgelly, Machynlleth, Aberystwith, Devils bridge, Aberaeron, Lampeter, Llandovery, Newcastle Emlyn, Cardigan, Haverfordwest, Pembroke Carmarthen, Swansea, Neath, Pyle ('where I passed some of the happy days of my childhood') (including Greethill Cottage 'where my father died'), Margam, Pont Neath Vaughan, Merthyr Tydvil ('the town in which my eyes first opened to the light') (including the Talbut Inn 'where I was born'), Abergavenny, Ragland, Ross, and London. The text is illustrated with two coloured maps of North Wales and South Wales, three sepia drawings of Pyle Inn, Greethill Cottage, and Pyle Church, and forty-one engravings, and at the end are particulars of the mileage of each successive daily stage of the tour. The spine is lettered 'Tour in Wales. 1836'.

Notes on Welsh biography, history and topography in the hands of the Reverend Peter Roberts (1760-1819), rector of Halkyn, co. Flint, and Angharad Llwyd (1779-1866), written in the margins and on the interleaves of a copy of William Owen [-Pughe], The Cambrian biography ... (London, 1803).

A volume containing notes, 1902, on the landscape and history of Wales, probably in the hand of James Matthew Thompson (1878-1956), fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, extracted from various printed sources, notably Thomas Pennant's Tours in Wales, and John Leland's Itinerary, with index (pp. 273-5).

The journal of William Williams (1774-1839), sometime MP for Weymouth and Melcomb Regis, co. Dorset, describing a walking tour through Wales and to Liverpool and Chester, May-June 1796, accompanied by the Reverend James Burgess. A note on f. i verso - 'The following Copy was made from the original Tour by a Welsh servant, not well acquainted with the English language. Hence the errors in spelling & grammar, with which it abounds' - is in the same hand as the final paragraph of the narrative and as emendations and additions to the text. Other additions, mainly on the blank dorse of folios, are in a different hand, possibly that of James Burgess.

A volume (pp. i-xxii; 1-449) containing miscellaneous items, many relating to Welsh bardism, in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). The contents include pp. 1-3, a note re the proclamation in 1795 of a bardic meeting to be held at Pen Bryn Owain in co. Glamorgan in 1796; 3-7, notes re the times of holding bardic meetings ('Cadair a Gorsedd wrth Gerdd a Barddoniaeth'), etc.; 7-16, eleven rules under the superscription 'Darbodau Gorsedd Gyfallwy Cadair Morganwg . . . ar Benn Brynn Owain ym Morganwg . . . 1795' relating to the conduct of bardic meetings, the measures, content, and language of poems, the bards, etc.; 25-8, a note of a proclamation in 1798 of a 'Cadair a Gorsedd ar Gerdd a Barddoniaeth' to be held at Pen Brynn Owain in co. Glamorgan in twelve months time, notes on the times of holding future bardic meetings '. . . ymmraint Cadair Orsedd Morganwg . . . ar ben Twyn Owain', and a geographical definition of the term Morgannwg in this context; 35-44., notes headed 'Coelbren y Beirdd herwydd Llyfr Llywelyn Siôn' being notes relating to the special alphabet reputedly devised by the Welsh bards for carving or notching on wooden surfaces and different modes of constructing wooden appliances or so-called 'books' which could be used as writing surfaces when utilising this alphabet; 51, an incomplete version of a 'question and answer' conversation between a teacher and his disciple; 55-6, notes relating to early British bards called 'gwyddoniaid', a bardic meeting between Prydain ab Aedd Mawr and three of these bards called Plennydd, Alawn, and Gwron ('Tri Phrif Feirdd Ynys Prydain'), rules for the bardic order formulated then, etc.; 57-60, English definitions of, or notes in Welsh on, terms of bardic relevance, e.g. 'Alban', 'Gorsedd Arddangos', 'Arwest', 'Cerdd Arwest'; 63-73, extracts of varying length from the works of Welsh poets ? illustrating bardic or poetic terms ('Bardic Allusions from the Welsh Bards'); 79, a note on 'Colofn Prydain (sef felly y gelwir y Gyhydedd Gyrch yn Llyfr Gm. Tew)'; 80-82, notes on Welsh literary production up to and including the fifteenth century mentioning Dafydd ap Gwilym, Llawdden, Harri ap Rhys ap Gwilym, Ieuan Brechfa, Edeyrn dafawd aur, Einiawn offeiriad, Dafydd Ddu Hiraddug, and Hopkin ap Thomas; 82-6, notes relating to an 'eisteddfod' held under the patronage of Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Tewdwr in Aberteifi and to rules concerning the order of bards and musicians formulated there; 87-8, brief notes on the bardic 'cadair arddangos' and 'cadair dwmpath'; 89, a note relating to the original of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, an extract from the said work, and a note on 'a circumstance . . . exactly similar' in a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym; 90-91, notes on Dafydd ap Gwilym and his poetry; 92-4, notes on the Welsh alphabet; 95-? 104, the rules and customs of the bardic chair of Tir Iarll ('Trefnau a Defodau Cadair Tir Iarll'); 111-13, bardic miscellanea; 119- 22, notes relating to the rights, etc., of the bardic order with the superscription 'Llyma ddangos amrafaelion o arferion a breiniau a defodau a barnau a chyfarwyddyd a berthynent i Feirdd a gwyr wrth gerdd o'r hen Lyfrau'; 127-33, notes on 'Cerdd Gadair', 'Cerdd Deuluaidd', 'Clergerdd', 'Datgeiniad Cadair', and 'Datgeiniad Penpastwn'; (continued)

135-7 + 145, further notes re rules for bardic meetings; 142, two triads; 143-4 + 155, notes relating to ? the Welsh bardic alphabet; 154, a note on 'Tair colofn Barddoniaeth'; 157-9, notes relating to the alleged association between (a) Gruffudd ap Cynan and Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and the code of rules for the bardic order, (b) Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and 'regulations for genealogies and armorial bearings', (c) Rhys ap Tewdwr and the introduction of the 'Bardic Laws of the Round Table' from Armorica, and (d) Gruffudd ap Cynan and 'a musical sessions in Glyn Achlach in Ireland . . . 1096'; 171-4, a transcript of twelve stanzas of Welsh verse attributed to Siencyn o'r Crwys y Prydydd; 174, a list of 'Plant Caw o Brydyn'; 175, a transcript of a twelve-line Welsh stanza allegedly composed by Thomas Glyn Cothi on the occasion of the French landing at Fishguard in 1797; 176-7, genealogical data relating to the family of Iestyn ab Gwrgan and related families; 178, a transcript of an 'englyn' relating to Owain Glyn Dyfrdwy attributed to Ieuan Gethin ap Ieuan ap Lleision; 179, a few entries relating to events in Welsh history, 870-959; 180, a transcript of 'englynion' ? attributed to Hywel Ystoryn; 181-6, an anecdote and notes relating to ? the reputed poetesses of Ty Talwyn, parish of Llangynwyd [co. Glamorgan]; 187 + 193, skeleton notes on Llanilid, Llanharan, Llanhari, Llantrisaint, St. Donats, and Flimston [co. Glamorgan]; 188-9, historical and other notes relating to the parish of Merthyr Tydvil [co. Glamorgan]; 190, a list of 'Antiquities in and about Merthyr'; 191, a note on Mallt Walbi 'a Brecon virago' and leader of a gang of freebooters, and a list of 'Remarkable Parishes' [in Glamorgan]; 192, a list of 'Antiquities in and about Lantwit Major' [co. Glamorgan]; 205, extracts relating to 'Melchin, an ancient British author', 'Hu Gadarn', etc., 'Ex Celtic Remains by Lewis Morris'; 206-07, a note on heroic poetry and the attitude of the 'descendants of the Celts' towards it; 219- 22, comments on orthography arising out of [William] Owen [Pughe]'s innovations with regard to Welsh orthography; 223-7, notes relating to the formation of compounds and plurals of monosyllabic words in ancient Cimbric and modern Welsh; 227-39, notes relating to the original home of the Cymry and early druidism and bardism, etc.; 241, a short list of Welsh words relating to worship with English definitions; 242-4, notes on the principles of druidism; 246-51, notes relating to the 'Great Eisteddfod at Caermarthen' [? 1451], 'the system of versification that received the sanction of that Eisteddfod', the adoption of this system by the bards of North Wales and some of those of South Wales, its rejection by the bards of Glamorgan and their compilation of 'a system of discipline, of Poetical Criticism, of Versification, and of whatever appertained to their science', the death of the Carmarthen system during the reign of James I, Gronwy Owen's verse, and the Gwyneddigion Society's annual Welsh poetry competition and its attempt 'to restore the system of the Carmarthen Eisteddfod'; 252-4, notes relating to an 'eisteddfod' held at Nant Gonwy, 1 Edward IV, incorporating 'englynion' attributed to Dafydd ap Edmund and Twm Tegid Brydydd 'o Langower ym Mhenllyn'; 259-66 + 274-82, an outline journal of a journey from South to North Wales and back, July-August 1800, the places mentioned on the northward journey including Cowbridge, Bridgend, Neath, Caeo, Dolau Cothi, Pumsaint, Clydogau Mountain, Llanfair Cludogeu, Llandewi Brevi, Tregaron, Pont Rhyd Fendigaid, Hafod, Pont ar fynach, Llanbadarn, Aberdyfi, Towyn, Dolgelleu, and Blaeneu (a visit to [Rhys Jones, antiquary and poet] and transcribing of manuscripts), and on the return journey Llanfachreth, Dolgelley (mention here of harpists and of the origin of the triple-stringed harp), Carneddi Hengwm, Tal y llynn, Abergyrnolwyn, Aberdyfi, Aberystwyth, Llanrhystid, Tal y sarn, New Inn, Abergwily, Caerm[arthe]n, Llangyndeyrn, Pont y Berem, Llan Nonn, Cydwely, Llanelly, Pont ar Ddulais, Swansea, Llangynwyd, and Bridgend; 262, a transcript of twelve lines of English verse entitled 'Loyalty by a Cobler'; 264, a transcript of an 'englyn' attributed to Huw Llwyd Cynfel; 270-73, a Welsh saints' calendar; 306, a plan of a 'Sheepfold at the foot of Cadair Idris, another in ruins on the same plan Cefn Merthyr, several more in Glamorgan'; (continued)

307, a transcript of the 'title-page' of Edward Jones: The Bardic Museum of Primitive British Literature . . .; 308-13, a series of eleven Welsh triads ('Llyma Drioedd y Beirdd') with an English translation thereof extracted from pp. 1-4 of the aforementioned Bardic Museum by Edward Jones; 316, a medicinal recipe for rheumatism in the head; 317, a 'Plan of a school house or accademy'; 323-38, extracts from Sharon Turner: History . . . of the Anglo-Saxons [vol. IV], relating to the language, literature, and music of the Anglo - Saxons; 339-43, notes on, and extracts from, [Walter] Scott's 'Lay of the Last Minstrel'; 359-62, extracts from a review of Edward Moor: The Hindu Pantheon which appeared in The Edinburgh Review, February 1811; 367-70, brief notes relating to the poetic dialect of the Welsh bards, the 'ancient [Welsh] Prose dialect', 'the modern [Welsh] literary Dialect', and 'The Venedotian Dialect' and its use in literature, and comments on the efforts of 'A Welsh (would-be literary) Society in London . . . to patronize the Welsh Language'; 373-80, notes relating to the introduction of Scaldic bardism into North Wales in the time of Gruffudd ap Cynan and the consequent disappearance of the old British bardism in that part of the country, the preservation of the old bardism in Glamorgan, and the invigorating effect of the 'Scaldic manner or system' on Welsh poetry and the Welsh language, general comments on the moral tone of Welsh literature, etc.; 381, three 'grammatical' triads; 382, a very brief list of Irish words in the Venedotian dialect; 383, an extract 'Ex Vol. 35 Plas Gwynn Mon' [i.e. Panton MS 35 now NLW MS 2003] relating to the 'dymchwelawl' poetic metre; 384, a note relating to an old manuscript volume containing Welsh miracle plays in the possession of 'Dr. Thomas yn Llwyn Iwrch' in the eighteenth century; 385-6, comments on the practice of calling 'the ancient British Religion Druidical'; 387-9, general observations on the development of the 'system of versification and of poetical criticism . . . of the Welsh Bards'; 390, a brief note on 'Bardism or Druidism'; 391-2, a list of fourteen chapter headings for a proposed 'History of the Bards' [? by Edward Williams], with a note at the beginning 'A Bad Plan' and at the end 'The above is only the first rude sketch of 1791 and here only retained as containing a few hints that may be useful' (in addition to material on British / Welsh bardism and druidism and Welsh music this work was to contain chapters on Irish and Highland bards, Scandinavian scalds, Provencal troubadours, and Saxon and English minstrels); 392-4, a list of thirty-six topics or subject or chapter headings being 'Another arrangement' [presumably for the proposed 'History of the Bards']; 395, a transcript of three 'englynion' attributed to Gutto'r Glyn, the third being attributed also to H[ywel] D[afydd] I[eua] n Rhys (an accompanying note mentions an 'eisteddfod' at Cardiff Castle); 396-7, a list of six 'Topics for the Bards Common Place book'; 398, a list of dates ? in connection with the holding of 'eisteddfodau' at Ystrad Ywain [co. Glamorgan]; 399-400, notes relating to the 'Polity or Discipline' of the druids and bards; 407, a list of fourteen 'names given by the ancient Bards to the Coronog faban' (part Welsh, part English, and derived from [Thomas] Pugh [: Brittish and Out-landish] Prophesies . . . [ London, 1658]); 408-18, notes relating largely to early British bardism and druidism with mention of [James] MacPherson and the Ossianic poems; 423-5, miscellaneous triads, etc.; 426 + 430-31, general reflections relating to etymology; 427-9, reflections on the use of conjecture in history particularly 'with respect to the peopling of Europe and America' if no historical records were available; 431-3, notes relating to the dissension between the bards of North Wales and those of Glamorgan consequent upon the 'succesful attempt of Daf[ydd] ab Edmund at the Caermarthen Congress [? 1451] to establish his own system [of versification]', the researches undertaken by the Glamorgan bards into 'Bardic history and science' and their discovery of 'the true principles of Poetry and versification', etc.; 435-7, notes containing general reflections on changes in the Welsh language and poetry from the late thirteenth century onwards; and 438, a list of six Welsh triads.

Manuscript entitled 'Four men on the road, being the simple story of a six days' motor tour in Wales by Edwin Vaughan Owen', 1920, together with one Edwardian photograph of an unidentified chapel, and three Edwardian postcards.

Letters, mostly concerning Jan Morris's work, especially that relating to the British empire, Oxford, Everest, Venice, and her memoirs, as well as the Welsh language and Welsh politics.

Twenty-eight notebooks and bundles, 1796-1815, consisting of travel journals and agricultural notes relating mainly to Iolo Morganwg's work for the Board of Agriculture in Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire in 1796 and his contribution to Gwallter Mechain's General View of the Agriculture and Domestic Economy of South Wales (London, 1815).
Also included are fragments of tours in parts of England (E5/13); a journal of his tour to North Wales in 1799, collecting materials for the Myvyrian Archaiology (E5/18, formerly 'IAW 144'); bundles of loose agricultural notes (E5/26-27); and geological notes relating to Glamorgan (E5/28).

Articles, reviews, correspondence, addresses, etc., by T. I. Ellis, 1949-1959, including Welsh travel articles; radio talks on travel, with related correspondence; book reviews; addresses concerning Thomas Edward Ellis's centenary, [1959]; and some correspondence with publishers.
Also included are manuscript translations, 1940, by TIE of three poems by Walter de la Mare, submitted for competition at that year's National Eisteddfod.

A journal of a tour through Wales and Herefordshire, undertaken in September 1840 by Elizabeth Sarney of Wargrave, Berkshire.

Transcripts, [c. 1827] (watermark 1825), in an unknown hand, of journals of tours in Wales and parts of England undertaken by Sir Richard Colt Hoare in 1793 and 1801-1803, taken from manuscripts now at Cardiff Central Library, MS 3.127 and MS 4.302.
The journals include a tour of North Wales, 12 April-1 August 1801 (ff. 1-88, original pagination 1-176), and tours of South Wales, 25 April-14 July 1802 (ff. 96-160, pp. 1-128), 1 May-7 July 1793 (ff. 164-180, pp. 1-33) and 14 May-11 June 1803 (ff. 183-190 verso, pp. 1-16). These are all published, in edited form, in The Journeys of Sir Richard Colt Hoare through Wales and England 1793-1810, ed. by M. W. Thompson (Stroud, 1983). An additional fragment of a tour from Hagley to Stourhead, 24-27 August 1802, is also included (ff. 91-95, pp. 1-10); this is not recorded by Thompson. Each individual tour is accompanied by a list of places visited (ff. 89-90, 162-163, 181-182, 191). A letter, 28 September 1904, from Emmeline Salvin, concerning the volume's provenance, has been tipped in on f. ii.

Papers of David Richards, 1886-1894, including letters, 1891-1894, to his wife, describing his voyage and stay in the settlement; journal consisting of loose leaves of the journey to Cwm Hyfryd, Patagonia, September 1891 to January 1892; journal of the voyage home from Buenos Aires to Plymouth, July-August 1892; copies of Welsh poems transcribed and possibly composed by David Richards, proofs of, or cuttings containing, parts of a series of articles on 'Cyfoeth Mwnawl y Wladfa Gymreig' to Y Celt in 1891, and a printed copy of a report on the Garn Gold Mine near Dolgellau, 1888.

Letters, mostly concerning Jan Morris's work, especially that relating to Wales, the British empire, Hong Kong, and her fiction and memoirs.

Tour journal, 1835-1837, of Joseph Gurney Barclay, banker and astronomer, containing accounts of tours of parts of England, 1836, and of North Wales, 1837.
The English tour, 16 March-7 April 1836 (pp. 1-33), consists of Barclay's journey from London, via Matlock and Wakefield, to Darlington, mostly in the company of his second cousin Samuel Gurney, mainly to visit members of their extended, interlinked families of fellow Quaker bankers and philanthropists, the Leatham family in Wakefield, including the brothers William Henry and [John] Arthington Leatham (pp. 14-24), and the Backhouse and Pease families in Darlington, notably Jonathan Backhouse and Joseph Pease, MP (pp. 26-31). On the Welsh tour, 26 [recte 25] July-[9] August 1837 (pp. 33-106), Barclay travelled with his father and four sisters in a Britzka from London to Gloucestershire, explored the lower Wye Valley (pp. 45-47), then journeyed north via Brecon, Rhayader, Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, Dolgellau, Harlech, Tremadog, Llanberis, Bangor and Beaumaris, ending in Conway (pp. 103-106). Barclay describes the scenery of Matlock, Derbyshire (pp. 6-9); a visit to the naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton at Walton Hall, Wakefield (pp. 16-19); a railway journey from Darlington to Middlesbrough with his uncle, Joseph Pease (pp. 29-30); a visit to Devil's Bridge, Cardiganshire (pp. 53-57); the ascent of Cader Idris (pp. 61-69) and an excursion to see waterfalls on the River Mawddach (pp. 70-77), both in the company of local guide Robert Pugh; and the ascent of Snowdon (pp. 93-97). Also included is a short account of the wildlife of Wales, as described to him by Robert Pugh (pp. 169-172). A small pen and ink sketch of the summit of Snowdon is on p. 95. An almanac for 1835 is bound into the volume (pp. 181-196, inverted text).

Journal of John Matthews of Birmingham, describing a tour which he made through France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria from May to October 1842 with his wife, Hannah Maria Matthews (1799?-1890) (ff. 1-86), and their tour in Wales, May to September 1844 (ff. 88-127), the latter section being illustrated with engravings, 1841-1842.

Manuscript journal of a tour of south and west Wales, as well as parts of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, 4 June-2 October 1805 (ff. 3-32 verso passim), also including several contemporary illustrations and later pasted-in engravings.
The writer is unknown but appears to be female and was travelling in the company of her 'Papa' and several other presumed relatives. Beginning in Gloucester (ff. 3-4), the journal then recounts a journey down the River Wye from Ross-on-Wye to Chepstow (ff. 7-8, 10-11 verso) and an extended stay at Swansea, 16 June-30 July (ff. 13-14, 16-17, 19, 21-22), before proceeding to Pembrokeshire (ff. 22 verso-23, 26-28 verso), Aberystwyth (ff. 29-31 verso) and Dolgellau (ff. 32 recto-verso), where the narrative ends abruptly, mid-sentence. The volume includes descriptions of Gloucester Cathedral (ff. 3-4), Margam Park (ff. 12-13), the Brownslade estate, [Castlemartin] (ff. 26-27 verso), St Govan's Head (ff. 26 verso-27 verso), the lower River Teifi (ff. 28-29), Devil's Bridge (ff. 29 verso-31) and the house at Hafod, Cardiganshire (f. 31 recto-verso). The illustrations are of pen and wash in a naïve style and comprise eight full page drawings (ff. 2, 6, 9, 15, 18, 20, 24, 25) and three text illustrations (ff. 8, 14, 17) all depicting views along the route. Conversely the fifteen engravings, [1831]-[1845], pasted into the volume depict various views in England, Wales and India and are, with a single exception, unrelated to the text (inside front cover, ff. 1 verso, 2 verso, 33-44 (rectos only)).

The series comprises notes, correspondence, printed information leaflets, maps, press cuttings and other printed articles relating to antiquities, archaeology, history of the landscape, past and modern day travel and tourism.