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Morris, Lewis, 1701-1765 Tir Iarll (Glamorgan, Wales). English
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Miscellanea,

A composite volume containing notes, lists, transcripts, etc., of a very miscellaneous nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). The contents, pagination in brackets, include reflections on looking at the ruins of medieval castles more particularly those of Glamorgan (xi + xiv); lists or groups of Welsh words, sometimes with English definitions and / or illustrative excerpts from Welsh poems (5-8, 11, 13, 42-3, 45-52 72, 117, 124, 145-7, 163, 215, 218, 221-2, 227-9, 231, 233, 243-7, 251-4, 268, 302, 307, 316); a list of the titles of 'Cywyddau Ior[wer]th Morganwg' i.e. Edward Williams himself (9-10); a seven-stanza poem entitled 'Cân y Bore' by [Edward Williams] 'Iorwerth Morganwg' (15-19); brief lists of events with dates extracted from [Henry Rowlands:] Mona antiqua [restaurata] and [William] Camden [:?Britannia] (20-21); an extract relating to the 'cantrefi' of Morgannwg from 'Vol. 17, Plas Gwynn' [i.e. Panton MS 17 now NLW MS 1986] (22); notes on laws promulgated by Sir Robert Fitshammon [in Glamorgan in the late eleventh century] (53); brief notes headed 'Peculiarities of the orthography of Mr. Bassett of Lanelays Welsh MS. History of the 13 Knights' (41); brief notes referring to the Norman knights Sir Lawrence Berckrolls, Gilbert Humphrefil, and Sir William Le Esterling and the lands given to them [on the conquest of Glamorgan] (39- 40); brief notes headed 'Llyma son am Dywysogaeth a Phendefigaeth a Bonedd Morganwg' (36-7); a list of sixteen [Glamorgan] castles with brief notes thereon (34-5); notes relating to Morgannwg ? in the late eleventh and first half of the twelfth century with references to Paen Twrbil, an attack on Cardiff Castle ? led by Ifor Bach, a political and judicial system ? set up by Ifor Bach, a law promulgated by 'ffwg Morganwg' against foreigners, etc. (30-33); brief notes relating to meetings of the Welsh bards held in the various princes' courts four times a year ? during the second half of the eleventh century, the supervision of the bards' use of Welsh by the princes, the patronage of the bards by Rhys fab Tydyr Fawr and Nest, wife of Iestyn [ap Gwrgant], and a meeting arranged between the said Rhys, Nest, and Iestyn (27-9); brief notes relating to the division of his domain by Rhodri Mawr amongst his sons, the conditions imposed on them, the status and duties of the kings of various parts of Wales, etc. (24-6); drafts of a proposed title-page for Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain to be published in 1822 (57, 68); lines of Welsh verse to illustrate 'cynghanedd' of the 'groes rywiog' type (58, 67); brief notes on and a sketch to illustrate 'Cylch yr Abred', 'Cylch y Gwynfyd', and 'Cylch y Ceugant' (59); a list of bardic 'gorseddau' (60-61); notes relating to the creation of the twenty-four Knights of the Round Table by King Arthur and to the qualities and duties expected of such knights, a list of the twenty- four accomplishments they should be capable of, and a list of the names of sixteen of the said knights (62-6); a brief note relating to the bardic 'Cadair Tir Iarll' ? instituted in the time of Gilbart y Clâr (69); a brief note referring to the bards Risiart ap Iorwerth Fynglwyd and Hywel Hir ap Rhys ap Llywelyn (78); notes headed 'Y Ford Gron' referring to the organising of the Welsh bards, musicians, etc. (81-2); notes relating to procedure in connection with bardic meetings (86-7); a brief note attacking 'Win. Owen, Edward Davies, a'r Hen darn Tant E. Jones' (87); a note relating to the contents of 'Greal Beirdd Morganwg' ? an intended quarterly periodical (94); notes relating to the knowledge of letters amongst the Cimmeri on their arrival in Britain and amongst the Druids with references to Roman inscriptions and ancient British inscriptions (95- 6); brief notes on solemn days or festivals observed by Glamorgan bards and the bardic 'Round Table' of Morgannwg (113); an extract from a 'cywydd' attributed to William Cynwal ? illustrating certain bardic terms (115); an example of the bardic alphabet allegedly used by the Welsh bards (118-19); notes relating to the migrations of the Cymry and their coming to Britain ( 125); a brief note on the possible uses of inscribing on billets of wood, etc. (127); a list of ancient Welsh musical instruments ('offer cerdd oslef yr hen Gymry') extracted allegedly from 'an old imperfect MS. in Goetre Hen Library circa 1767 borrowed by John Bradford' (128); a note referring to the genuine poems of Taliesin and the spurious poems attributed to him, the writer disclaiming responsibility for including some of the latter in the 'Welsh Archaiology' stating that his main work in connection therewith had been 'travelling thro' Wales in search of old MSS.' (132 + 129); notes relating to 'coelbrenni rhin', 'coelfeini cyfrin', etc. (137-8); notes referring to the reintroduction of the bardic 'Dosparth y Ford Gron' into Wales from Brittany by Rhys ap Tewdwr, a meeting ? in 1075 between Rhys and Iestyn ap Gwrgan for this purpose and ? to organise the order of Welsh bards and musicians, a further meeting between the two in 1077 leading to a quarrel concerning Nest, wife of Iestyn, the coming of Robert fab Ammon and the Norman knights to Iestyn's aid, and their eventual conquest of his realm (139-41); a suggestion relating to 'Y Bardd Glas o'r Gadair' and 'cynghanedd' (142-3); notes relating to bardic ceremonial headed 'Dosparth y Ford Gronn' (149-51); notes relating to ? the proclaiming of 'eisteddfodau', etc. (161-2); a brief note on the 'bardd teulu' (163); a brief note relating to the intellectual state of the [early] Cymry (169); general remarks contrasting the poets of North and South Wales (170-71); notes relating to the fate of the souls and spirits of men after death (177-9); a note relating to the work of the 'Welsh bards as tutors' (181); an anecdote relating to Einigan Gawr and Menw ap y Teirgwaedd and the origin of knowledge (183); transcripts of two 'awdlau' attributed to Prolh o Gil Fai and Iorwerth Llwyd ap y Gargam, stanzas attributed to Gwalchmai ap Meilir, and unattributed verse (187-97); extracts from [Edward Davies's series of 'Letters on Celtic Literature to Mr. Justice Harding previous to the publication of The Celtic Researches'] with occasional comments [by Edward Williams] (205-11); (continued)

A transcript of three of the old Welsh 'englynion' usually designated 'englynion y Juvencus' with a version in modern orthography [all probably transcribed from Edward Lhuyd: Archaeologia Britannica, p. 221] (212); copies of two 'englynion' by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' himself (215); extracts relating to the early Cimbrians or Kimmeri and their connection with Thrace (223); miscellaneous extracts from Welsh verse (225-6, 239-40); a list of titles headed 'Odes by E. Wins.' (232); an agricultural note headed 'Irish Course of Culture' (233); a list of personal names headed 'July 28th Bath. Poems delivered to' (234); a list of Welsh phrases headed 'Phrases in common use in Glamorgan & also amongst the Persians and other Mahometans' (249-50); two lists of Welsh triads the first headed 'Dewisolion o Drioed[d] Cerdd Iaco ap Dewi gerllaw dechreu Llyfr Mr. Thos. Evans o Frechfa', and the second 'Trioedd gweddus ar ddyn & ex idem (Dewisolion)' (273-6); extracts by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' from one of Lewis Morris's manuscripts called Prif Ancwyn Gorhoff' being No. 43 of the Welsh School Manuscript Collection in London including a version of the statute for Welsh bards and musicians attributed to Gruffydd ab Cynan ('Statud y Gwyr wrth Gerdd o waith Gruffydd ab Cynan'), bardic triads, a list, with examples of some, of the twenty-four Welsh strict poetic metres, lists with headings such as 'Saith cas ar ferched', 'Chwe casbeth gan Dduw', and 'Cas gan hwsmon bum peth', etc. (277-93; this manuscript numbered 43 was one of the manuscripts listed as missing from the Welsh School Collection when it was presented to the British Museum in 1844, see B. M. Additional MS 14955); a list of Welsh triads headed 'Dewisolion o Drioedd gweddus eu dysgu Iaco ab Dewi (Ll. Th. Evans)' (294-6); a copy of a proclamation that a 'Cadair wrth Gerdd Dafawd' would be held 'ar dwyn y Bettws yn Nhir Iarll' in 18[?2]1 (301); extracts from the preface to Thomas Jones: [An] English [and] Welsh Dictionary, 1811, with a comment by E[dward] W[illiams] (304-05); a list of eleven Glamorgan river-names ('enwau nentydd ag afonydd Morganwg') (312); historical notes relating to Welsh poetry including notes on the 'Silurian School', 'a monster to whom we may apply the appellation of the School of Carmarthen . . . engendered between the false Taste of Dafydd ap Edmund and the ignorance of Gruffudd ap Nicolas', the establishing of the Carmarthen school in North Wales and its duration for two centuries, the decline of the said school and the emergence of a new school with the coming of bards such as Hugh Morris, Edward Morys, etc., the attempts of the Gwyneddigion Society to revive the Carmarthen school in North Wales, the song-writing tradition in South Wales, and Richard Hughes, the sixteenth century Caernarvonshire poet, described as 'the oldest song writer of undoubted authenticity' [in North Wales] (313-14, 311-12); horticultural and agricultural notes giving instructions what to do in each month of the year (324, 321-3, 326, 319-20 ); and notes headed 'Llyma'r ddosparth a wnaeth y Brenin Arthur ar gadw achau a chof am fonhedd Cynhenid Cenedl y Cymry' (328-9). Some of the notes are written on the verso or margins of an incomplete copy of a pamphlet announcing a literary competition (composing a 'cywydd') organised by the Gwyneddigion in 1822, a ? holograph letter from William Williams from Cowbridge to Mr. Williams, Geilston, 1806 (requesting assistance in 'taking estimat of the work unfinis'd at the bridwell'), and copies of a pamphlet announcing the printing of Edward Williams's two volumes of English poems entitled Poems Lyric and Pastoral. Inset is a printed copy of a circular letter from Thomas Stephens as honorary secretary of the Merthyr Cymreigyddion Society, 184 . . ., announcing the society's intention of holding an eisteddfod on (blank), stating what the objectives of the society were, and asking for subscriptions.

Miscellanea,

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'.