Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1730x1800] / (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
80 pp., numbered 1-79 (117 twice), pp. 72-9 and end-papers blank. Bound in blue sheepskin in the nineteenth century with a single gold line on the outside.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Despite a not insubstantial literary output, David Jones ('Dewi Fardd') did not earn much repute as a poet, though he is noted for editing poetic anthologies such as Blodeu Gerdd Cymry (1759). In 1776 he established an extensive and successful printing press at Trefriw. The business was continued by his son Ishmael Davies, his grandson John Jones ('Pyll Glan Conwy') - who transferred the press to Llanrwst in 1825 - and his great-grandson Owen Evan(s) Jones, who traded under the name of 'O. Evans-Jones & Co.' David Jones was also a keen and diligent collector of ancient Welsh manuscripts, many of which have since been deposited at the British Library and the National Library of Wales.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A small volume written in the eighteenth century lettered on the spine 'Llyvr Dos=parth a Cadwe= digaeth Cerdd Dannau, I'. The scribe was David Jones ('Dewi Fardd') of Trefriw. The contents are as follows: pp. 1-23, 'Clod Cerdd ai Dechreuad' beginning 'Fy Mryd sydd ar hyn om llafur ddwyn ar ddeall it Darllewr . . . Eithr o arfer Cerdd Theoricall y Nef, ni ymadroddwn am dano' [cf. B.M. Addit. MS 14989, ff. 82 recto-111 verso, and also D. Gwenallt Jones, 'Clod Cerdd Dafod', in Llên Cymru, I, pp. 186-7, and Gwendraeth Jones, 'Siôn Conwy III a'i Waith', in B.B.C.S., XXII, pp. 23-4 in particular]; pp. 24-30, 'Gryffydd ap Cynan Twysog Cymru a wnaeth Gyfraith ar y Gwyr wrth Gerdd, yr hon a elwir Ystatud Gryffydd ap Cynan', beginning 'Llyma y sawl y sydd rydd yddynt Glera . . .' and ending '. . . a Disgyblion, gwedi Cael graddau or blaen mewn Eisteddfodau neu Neithorau Reiol. Ac felly y Terfyna Ystatud Gryffydd ap Cynan Twysog Gwynedd, ar y Gwyr wrth Gerdd'; pp. 32-54 , 'Naw o Gyd-gordiadau sydd mewn Desgant neu Brior . . .' followed by lists of airs, etc. ('Ar y Bragod Gywair', 'Y Clyme, y Gogywair', etc.) ending with 'Llyma'r 24 mesurau Cerdd Dant' and 'Llyma y Rheolau Cerdd Dafod'; p. 55, 'Llyma Lyfr a Elwir Cadwedigaeth Cerdd Dannau' beginning 'Nid amgen, Telynnau, a Chrythau o fewn 3 Talaith Gymru . . .'; p. 59, 'Llyma fal y nodwyd wrth Ystatud Gryff: ap Cynan, Rhoddion i bob Gradd yn ei Radd, o Gerdd Dafod, a Thant', beginning 'Tair Gwyl arbennig sydd nid amgen Nadolig, Pasg, ar Sul gwyn . . .'; p. 62, a 'cywydd' by William Llun ('Cywydd i ofyn Telyn i Siencin Gwynn, o Lan=idlos'); and pp. 65-71, a list of the names of bards ('Henwau'r Beirdd'), A-R, with one or two later additions, one name on p. 66 ('Gruffdd. ap Lln. Vychan'), being probably in the autograph of Edward Williams, 'Iolo Morganwg'. There is a triad on p.54. On the fly-leaf in a later hand is written 'Dosparth Cerdd Dafod'.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Welsh.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The description is also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971).
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 13219A.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Gruffydd ab Cynan, King of Gwynedd, 1055?-1137 (Subject)
- Wiliam Llŷn, 1534 or 5-1580 (Subject)
- Iolo Morganwg, 1747-1826 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Bethan Ifans for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS. The following source was used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971); June 2010.