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Welsh Indians.
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Madog and the discovery of America; Welsh Indians; etc.,

Miscellaneous papers and a ? note-book of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents include pp. 28-62, an essay or article entitled 'Some Account of an Ancient Welsh Colony in America' containing an introductory section on the discovery of America by the Welsh prince, Madog, in the late twelfth century, and copious evidence collected by the writer from oral, manuscript, and printed sources concerning the existence in North America of 'Welsh Indians' who spoke the Welsh language (for Edward Williams's interest in Madog and the 'Welsh Indians' see David Williams: 'John Evans's Strange Journey', The American Historical Review, vol. LIV, Nos. 2-3, and The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1948, pp. 105-46, and Richard Deacon: Madoc and the Discovery of America . . . (London, 1967 ), more particularly pp. 56-60, 131-6); 64-82, another 'version' of the aforementioned essay or article; 85-118, miscellaneous notes, extracts from printed sources, etc., relating largely to Madog, the Welsh Indians, and the Nootka area [? of Vancouver Island]; 119-29, a variant or draft version of the essay which, under the title 'A Short Review of the Present State of Welsh Manuscripts', appeared as the preface to The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales . . . (London, 1801); 176, a list of bridges in Glamorganshire; 189-91, transcripts of series of rhyming sayings attributed to Taliesin ('Geiriau Gwir Taliesin', 'Cynghor Taliesin i Afaon ei fab'), a three-stanza English poem, and two 'englynion' attributed to Siôn Rhydderch; 199-200, extracts from the [ ] County Herald, 31 December 1796 and 7 January 1797, relating to the extreme cold in London and areas in Kent, etc.; 217 + 224, thirteen stanzas of a Welsh poem on Glamorganshire (? incomplete); 223, the first two stanzas of an incomplete Welsh poem ? on Monmouthshire; 225-33, a transcript of a 'Calendar of Flora' (January-October); 237 42 and possibly 243-52, notes on the philosophical and religious ideas of the British bards or druids; 253-4, further notes relating to the bardic or druidic order; 256-7, a copy of an eleven-point plan for establishing a colony of Welsh emigrants in America on land 'near the Mississippi between the Ohio and Illenois'; and 259, a sketch plan of 'the Hustings and Booths at the General Election, Com. Glam. 1820', drawn on the blank verso of a folded copy of a printed election pamphlet containing a letter, 7 March 1820, from 'Rhys ap Thomas' to Sir Christopher Cole, one of the candidates in the parliamentary election for the Glamorgan county seat. Also included are miscellaneous lists of Welsh words and other miscellanea, these in some instances being written on the blank verso or in the margins, etc., of copies of printed proposals for publishing Edward Williams's volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral, copies of a printed circular dated 16 August 1820 in which Taliesin Williams appealed to Unitarian ministers to contribute towards the fund for completing the erection of a Unitarian chapel in Merthyr Tydfil, an autograph letter from Messrs. Johnson, Prichard, and Johnson, Bristol, to Mr. Hopkins, Bridgend, 1815 (a business appointment), and a transcript (probably not in the hand of Edward Williams) of an English poem by ? Thomas Redwood.

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents (notes, extracts, lists, jottings, transcripts, etc.) are extremely varied and cover a multiplicity of topics. Included are notes or lists with the superscriptions 'Deg Rhan ymadrodd' (38), 'Llyma gof a son am gadeiriau prydyddion Morganwg a chof amcan eu hamserau' (72-3), 'Anecdotes of Merthyr' (83-4), 'Customs in Glam[organ]' (86-7), 'Rhywiau cerdd dafod parth arbenigrwyd[d] ansodd' (113), 'Llafar Gorsedd B[eirdd] Y[nys] P[rydain] yng nghadair Morganwg' (128-30), 'Trees that will flourish near the sea' (249), 'Llyma enwau'r llefydd lle arferai Feirdd Morganwg gynnal eisteddfod a Chadair' (252), 'Trees to be intermixed with fruit trees in an orchard' (264), 'Proper trees to [be] planted in an orchard' (265), 'Enwau Cymreig ar afalau ym Morganwg' (266-72), 'Enwau Gellyg Ynghymraeg' ( 275-6), 'Enwau Eirin a Phlemys ym Morganwg' (277-8), 'The names of the Norman Peers of Glamorgan and the names of their Castles. . .' (293), '[Names of the] months [in] Armoric [and] Cornish' (313), 'Rhif Carennydd' ( 340), 'List of Publications on the inconsistency of War with the Christian Religion' with comments ? by Edward Williams on the church and war (363-70 ), 'Ex Old Vocabulary at Hafod' (388), 'Hints for the Dissertation on the Welsh Language' (389-?90), 'Llymma son am Eisteddfod Beirdd a Phrydyddion a fu ym Marchwiail ym Maelor' (mention of 'eisteddfodau' held at Gwern y Cleppa, Marchwiail, and Baglan) (396-8), and 'Cyfarwydd am Dri Brodyr Marchwial' (mention of the same three 'eisteddfodau') (398-400); notes, sometimes very brief, on 'cynghanedd' (34), early Christianity in Britain ( 40), the use of the bardic alphabet amongst the Welsh for teaching purposes temp. Henry IV (42), the 'chair of Tir Iarll' (69 + 71), the original home of the Cymmry, i.e. Defrobani (119), weather conditions in March 1811 (175), the Welsh language (181-2), Pythagoras (188), 'englynion' (189), the Essenes (197), Druids (197), Druids and bards amongst the Celtic peoples (207-13), materials used as writing surfaces in ancient and medieval times with mention of a few medieval libraries (213-15), the Druids of Britain and Gaul (216-33), mortar making, garden terracing, and fruit planting (245-6), Welsh culinary recipes (247-9), brick making (254), the growing of trees and fruit near the coast in Glamorgan (262-3), Welsh metrical measures (279), Castletown house [co. Glamorgan] (283), the family of Berkrolles (302), and 'y Ford Gronn' (401); transcripts of Welsh poems including 'cywyddau' attributed to Dafydd ap Edmwnd and Gruff. ab Ifan ab Llywelyn Fychan, an incomplete poem (stanzas 1 and part of 2 missing) attributed to Thos. Llen. o Regoes, and part of a 'cywydd' attributed to Dafydd Alaw (95-109), a 'cywydd' attributed to Siôn Dafydd Rhys (255-6), and an 'englyn' attributed to Daf. Llwyd Bryn Llyfrith (309); transcripts of English verse including ? a translation from the Welsh with the superscription 'A prophecy by Thomas ap Evan ap Rhys in the time of Edw[ar]d the VI' (47-8), twenty-two stanzas entitled 'The Welsh Batchelor' s wish' attributed to the Revd. Mr. Christ. Roberts of St. Athan (289-92), and ten stanzas ? from . . . Bulmer: Pleasantness of Religion (307); miscellaneous items including miscellaneous triads (151-4), ? a draft of a title-page for an anthology of Welsh verse to be called Y Bardd Teulu (147 ), a draft of a prefatory letter, 1796, by Edward Williams to a proposed volume containing an anthology of Welsh prose and verse items, material relating to Welsh bardism, etc. (157-8), an incomplete triad re the 'bardd teulu' (196), a plan of the layout of a dwelling house with orchards, kitchen gardens, fruit gardens, etc. (274), historical anecdotes relating to the lordship and county of Glamorgan reputedly from a manuscript 'of the late William Roberts of St. Athan' (293-8), a list, with examples, of twenty classical metrical feet (306), a genealogical table showing descendants of Iestin, lord of Morgannwg (415-16), biographical notes on members of the Stradling family to the late sixteenth century ? from [ British Museum] Harleian MS 368 (417-22), and a plan of a stone circle 'at Field Marshal Conway's . . . near Henly upon Thames' (429); and extracts from a variety of printed sources including Cambrian, March 1819 ( Welsh speaking Indians) (131), The Monthly Review, February 1819 (132 + 134), the works of [Isaac] Watts (135-?43), . . . Priestley: Tablet of Memory (159-?74), Cambrian, September 1819 (a proposal 'to obtain an Act of Parliament for making and maintaining a Pier and Harbour at Newton in the Parish of Newton Nottage [co. Glamorgan]', etc. (281), [W. Wotton: Cyfreithjeu Hywel Dda . . ., London, 1730] (relating mainly to the Welsh bards) (343-52) and the Ecclesiastical Review, January 1817 (359-62). Interspersed throughout the volume are lists or groups of miscellaneous Welsh words sometimes with English definitions, proverbs, grammatical or etymological notes, poetic extracts, and other miscellanea. In some instances the blank verso or margins of the following have been utilised for writing notes - an undated holograph letter from Mr. Dunn from St. Athans to Ed. Williams, Flemingstone, re materials for the tomb of the writer's mother (in third person) (185-6, 199-200), copies of a printed circular, 16 August 1820, appealing for subscriptions towards the completion of a Unitarian chapel at Merthyr Tydfil, copies of a printed 'advertisement' and 'proposals' for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral in 1792, a folded sheet containing a copy of a Welsh poem entitled 'Canwyll gogan y Cymru' attributed to 'Siôn ?Flay o Bentre'r Lai' (284-5, 300-01), a holograph letter, 30 September 1818, from G. Birley, Methodist Chapel, Cardiff, to Edw[ar]d Williams (forwarding a copy of the first volume of [John Hughes:] Horae Britannicae at the author's request) (315-16, 333-4), a copy of a printed circular, 6 December 1802, announcing literary competitions to be held under the auspices of the Gwyneddigion Society (320 + 329), and an undated holograph letter from Edward Williams to John Llewelyn, esq., Penlle'r Gaer [co. Glamorgan], concerning recipient's 'usual benefaction' to the writer (379-82).

Welsh poetry and miscellanea,

A collection of papers formerly inserted in NLW MS 13236B. Items 1-4, 8, and 15-18 are in the hand of William Owen [-Pughe], and item 10 is in the hand of D[avid] Thomas, ['Dafydd Ddu Eryri']. The contents include: I, a collection of 'englynion' by R.D. [?Robert Davies, 'Bardd Nantglyn'], Mor [sic] ap Evan ab Dadd., and D.T. [?David Thomas]; 2, 'Flangelliad i Vardd y Glyn' by 'Twm pen y waen'; 3, 'Carol Nadolig, ar fesur o gyfansoddiad Beethoven yn Rhifyn VIII o'r Musical Library', beginning 'Heddyw y gwynfydedig ddydd . . .'; 4, 'Dau englyn ar ddyn meddw a gysgodd gyda'r bardd yn Sarn Vraint yn Mon'; 5, 'Englynion (2) er coffadwriaeth Davydd Richard Llansilin' by 'R. B. Clough Tyn y celyn Rhagr - 1826'; 6, 'englynion' (2) entitled 'At Fardd Du Nantglyn'; 7, a couplet by 'rhyw Offeiriad' and an 'englyn' by 'Owen Gronw . . . Tâd Gronw Owen'; 8, 'englynion' (3), the first beginning 'Prydydd ysgrivydd cu llon - sain ethol . . .'; 9, ['Ar hyd y nos'] in old notation followed by 'englynion', three of which are by Walter Davies, Jonathan Hughes, and T. Nant [Thomas Edwards], and several 'penillion telyn'; 10, 'Geiriau diweddaf Dafydd 2 Sam. 23' by D[avid] Thomas, 1804, beginning 'Ysbryd yr Arglwydd, ddedwydd Dduw . . .' (cf. NLW MS 325E, p. 17); 11, English verses entitled 'The Legend of Carn Tyrne'; 12, an incomplete copy of 'Padouca Hunt' by [David Samwell] (cf. NLW MS 13225C, pp. 129-36); 13, an English translation of ['Cywydd y Daran'] (cf. Owen Jones & William Owen, Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym (Llundain, 1789), tt. 80-82); 14, epilogue of an interlude performed at London, beginning 'Wel nosdawch bawb ar unweth . . .'; 15, notes on Welsh antiquities, geographical features and locations, etc., written in part on the reverse of a printed bill of Richard Jones, King's Head Inn, Llandovery; 16, a list of English words with cognate words in other languages; 17, a letter, 1828, from W-. Owen Pughe, Egryn, to Mr. Bailey, containing draft Welsh and English inscriptions to commemorate the Eisteddfod held at Denbigh, 16-18 Sept., 1828; 18, a transcript of the title-page and introduction to Gruffydd Robert's Dosparth Byrr . . . (1567 ); 19, ?autograph of Joanna Southcott; 20, printed list of subscribers to 'Bardd Nantglyn's Memorial Fund'; 21, memorandum concerning a certain Ruth Thomas, etc.; 22, culinary recipes; 23, articles of agreement, 1836, for a lease of copper and lead, etc., under Wenallt, in the parish of Darowen, co. Mont., (part wanting), with alterations in pencil for another agreement concerning Brynmoel, Penegoes; 24-25, two letters, 1850, from John Hay Williams, Bodelwyddan, to [ ]; 26, engraving of an unidentified ?bronze object (cf. Arch. Camb., 1855, illustration facing page 273); 27, a steel engraving by T. Hodgetts, 1822, of a portrait of 'Idrison', [William Owen-Pughe]; and 28, forty printed copies of the Lord's Prayer in Hebrew.

Thomas, David, 1759-1822