Ffeil Peniarth MS 147 [RESTRICTED ACCESS]. - Cantrefi a chymydau Cymru, &c.

A composite manuscript, its two parts apparently brought together by Thomas Evans of Hendreforfudd.

Firstly pp. 1-230. All, apart from a few later additions, in the hand of Wiliam Dafydd Llywelyn. 'Y modd y mesyrwyd ag y ranwyd ag y rifwyd kantrefydd a chymyday holl Gymry', from 'llyfr meistr Sion Llwyd o Lwyn y Maen yn ymyl Croesoswallt' (pp. 1-5); 'Y tair sir ar ddeg y sydd yn holl Gymry, ay trefydd ay dinessydd ay kymyday ay heglwysydd' [a valuable list of the parishes of Wales, printed in RMWL, I, pp. 911-20] (pp. 5-23); a fragment of Trystan ac Esyllt (p. 24); Disgrifiad Ynys Prydain, etc. [cf. Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1943-4, 35-61] (pp. 25-91); an extract from a Latin lawbook owned by 'Mr Powel' (p. 92); on the 'nations' (pp. 93-102); on the foundation of Oxford colleges, up to 1566 [excluding Jesus, founded in 1571], and Cambridge colleges up to 1557 (pp. 102-7); Dysgread Arfau [see Evan J. Jones (ed.), Medieval Heraldry: Some Fourteenth Century Heraldic Works (Cardiff, 1943)] and a treatise on pigments [both derived from NLW MS 17116] (pp. 109-86); Statud Gruffudd ap Cynan and treatises on cerdd dant, etc. [all from NLW MS 17116, some of them printed from Peniarth MS 147 in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 1 (1921-3), 139-56] (pp. 187-215). On pp. 206-17 are Y Pedair Camp ar Hugain, Y Pedwar Mesur ar Hugain and 'Henwau hen wyr wrth gerdd'; other texts include 'Y Saith Gelfyddyd Ryddion' [D. Gwenallt Jones (ed.), Yr Areithiau Pros (Caerdydd, 1934), pp. 69-70; G.J. Williams & E.J. Jones (eds.), Gramadegau’r Penceirddiaid (Caerdydd, 1934), p. 207] (pp. 218-20) and 'Val y gwnaethir mewn ffest reia'’ [BBCS, 15 (1952-4), 116-19] (pp. 223–30). A good collaborating hand contributed two englynion on p. 205. The ink of the scribe is badly faded in places. Marginal additions in smaller script and blacker ink, including those on pp. 10-11 and 14-15 recording traditional lore [printed in RMWL, I, p. 911], are also in the hand of Wiliam Dafydd Llywelyn. There are notes in the hand of David Powel on pp. 82 ('Celwyddeu dybryd') and 84; notes by a good contemporary hand are on p. 43, and by another on p. 53. John Lloyd [?of Llanforda], [16 cent., second ½], added a Latin quotation on p. 78. On p. 3 is an englyn in a good bardic hand and on pp. 6, 15 and 244-5 other englynion, etc. in an untidier hand; the additions of these two hands, [16-17 cent.], are anonymous and probably autograph.

Secondly pp. 231-44. Part of an armorial, with painted coats of arms, arranged by achau’r mamau, in the hand of Simwnt Fychan.