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Fonmon Castle (Wales)
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Clayton letters,

  • NLW MS 11017E.
  • File
  • 1665-1679.

(a) Eleven holograph letters, 1665-1668, from John Hinton from Pembroke, etc., to John Morris (Morice) in Corn hille and Augustin Fryers, relating mainly to an action resulting from the arrest of iron shipped on board the 'Katherine of Waxford' by John Chaplyn (Shapland), together with affidavits, 3 January, 1667/8, of Thomas Dulan, factor of the iron, and David St. John, master of the vessel, taken before Jno. Hinton, mayor of the town and liberties of Pembroke, and a contemporary copy of a letter [26 December, 1667] from John Morris to John Hinton. (b) Nine holograph letters, 1678/9-1679, of Hugh Mathews, from Cardiff and Aberthaw, the first written to Samuel Sumerford, Lincolnes Inne, and the remainder to Sir Thomas Bludworth, M.P., at Camden House near Goldsmith's Hall, relating to the administration of the estate of Sir John Jones of Fonmon Castle (d. 15 October, 1678). The letters refer to difficulties between Dame Ann Jones (daughter of Sir Thomas Bludworth) and her brother-in-law Oliver Jones in connection with manorial rights, an allegedly irregular manorial court held at Lancadle, an inventory of the estate, the payment of bills, the letting of properties and collection of rents, and the loading and manning of Dame Ann Jones's vessel 'Ann' from Aberthaw to London. Also included are transcripts of a letter, 16 November, [16]78, from [Dame Ann Jones] from Fonmon to Hugh Mathews, commissioning the latter to be steward of her estate, and of her instrument of appointment, of even date, of Edwd. Williams of Wringestone, Glamorgan, yeoman, as bailiff to take care and dispose of her stock of cattle and sheep.

Clayton letters, &c.,

  • NLW MS 11021E.
  • File
  • 1656-1684.

Two holograph letters, 2-6 October, 1679, from Richd. Jones, Brecon, to Sir George Jeffreys, Recorder of London, and Jeffrey Jeffreys, Inner Temple (the yearly value of the estate of Sir John Jones in Wringstone, Wenvoe, and Michaellston le Pit, etc.), with a breviate of debts incurred upon the Fonmon estate; and a group of thirty-seven documents, 1656-1684 and undated, relating to encumbrances affecting the estate of Sir Robert Thomas of Llanvihangell, Glamorgan, including holograph letters from Sir Robert Thomas to Sir Robert Clayton and John Morrice, accounts, receipts, legal papers, etc.

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers containing notes, lists, jottings, etc., of an extremely varied nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents include pp. 15-18, ? a draft of a proposed title-page and table of contents (as per chapter) of a proposed work by Edward Williams to be called 'Dissertations Historical and Critical on the Ancient British Bards and Druids'; 24, a brief note mentioning a dissenting congregation at Blaen Cannaid [co. Glamorgan] circa 1690, which split into three sections which moved (i) to Cwm y Glo, (2) to Llanvabon and thence to Hengoed, and (3) to Mynwent y Cwacers and thence to Tref y Rhyg; 26, a brief note on [the Reverend John] Walters; 27, a list of eleven topics under the superscription 'An Analytical Dissertation on the Welsh Language' (? an outline plan for a book); 30, a list of Welsh historical source material headed 'Documents of Ancient British History. Translated from the Welsh. By E. Wms' (? relevant to a proposed volume); 31, a list of ? chapter subject headings under the superscription 'Historical Dissertations on ye an[cien]t Brit[ish] B[ar]ds and Dr[ui]ds' (? relevant to a proposed volume); 45, a list headed 'Testunau Barddoniaeth a roddwyd yngorsedd Alban Arthan ar Ben Bryn Owain ym Morganwg . . . 1796'; 49 + 51, a copy of the reputed Welsh bardic alphabet ('Llymma ddarddangos ar Goelbrenn y Beirdd . . .'); 57-8, brief notes relating to American Indians; 65, brief notes on Venantius Fortunatus's opinion concerning the harp, etc. (from [J. C.] Walker: Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards) and on Dafydd Williams, vicar of Penllin [co. Glamorgan], ob. 1690; 67-9, 73-4, 155, philosophical notes relating to 'savagism', the suppression of evil, marks of civilisation, etc.; 79-81, further notes relating to ? American Indians; 85, a note on the advantages and disadvantages of Glamorgan as a place for 'elegant rural retirement'; 87-8, extracts from, or comments on statements in, the Cambrian Visitor [1813]; 94-6, ? a copy of a letter to Dafydd Sanders criticising some of his poetic work including an 'awdl'; 104-05, a note relating to 'coelbren y beirdd'; 122, 135, 228, a few miscellaneous triads; 123-7, notes relating to Owen Jones ('Myfyr'), his connection with the Gwyneddigion Society, his part in the publication of the Myvyrian Archaiology, and his project for transcribing the works of the Welsh bards employing 'Charles and Vaughan . . . to transcribe for him at so much per week together with victuals'; 154, a list of the 'Contents of Revd. Mr. Thomas of Bonvilston's MSS'; 157-8, 'Notes for A push at the pillars of Priestcraft'; 161-4, comments on baptism, communion, the formation of religious groups or societies without priests and upholding freedom of belief and conscience, etc.; 169, ? a list of the literary competitions at an 'eisteddfod' to be held at Carmarthen in August 1823; 177, a note on the English language; 179-81, notes relating to George Thomas of Lisworney [co. Glamorgan], circa 1650, and an extant manuscript volume containing religious treatises, expositions of scripture, etc., ? compiled by him; 186, notes on 'bargodfardd' and 'bargodiain'; 187, a transcript of three stanzas of English verse called 'The withered rose'; 189, a note on Dafydd Nanmor; 192, a brief note referring to early Christianity in Glamorgan and to 'Prince Morgan' from whom the country obtained its name; 197, a comment on 'eisteddfod Caerfyrddin', N.D.; 199, ? a draft of a proposed title-page for Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain; 201, notes relating to Maelgwn Hir, Talhaiarn Fardd, and Taliesin Ben Beirdd; 205-09, an account of the discovery of inscribed stones and of pottery near the village of Myddfai [co. Carmarthen] by J. J. Holford in 18 . . ., with copies of the inscriptions; 212, notes headed 'Amseryddiaeth Escob Usher'; 213-16, extracts from, or comments referring to, [Thomas] Pennant: Tour in Wales and [William] Bingley: A Tour Round North Wales [1800], Vol. II; 217, a note on the districts, hundreds, etc., of Glamorgan; 221, a list of names of persons headed 'Bridgend Quarry' (? owners or developers of); 225, a list of ? bardic grades ('Llyma fal y dosparthant y Trosedigion nid amgen na'r gwyr wrth addysg cerdd dafawd a'i pherthynasau'); 230, ? a list of chapter or section headings under the superscription 'Inquiries into the origin and Progress of Letters amongst the Ancient Britons' (? for a work of that title); 234, a list with the superscription 'Naw Cylmawd Cadair Cerdd dafawd'; 235, a short list of Welsh poets, 14th-15th cent., with dates and a few notes; 237, ? chapter or section headings for a study of the 'History of the Bards'; 239, notes with the superscription 'Appendix to the History of the Bards'; 241, a short list of 'Works on ancient mythology to be consulted illustrative of some things in the History of the Bards'; 245, draft proposals for a second edition of Edward Williams: Poems Lyric and Pastoral; 246, brief notes on the language, etc., of medieval Welsh poets, D[afydd ap] G[wilym], etc.; 247, a note on the wrongful attribution of poems to certain Welsh poets; 249, a brief note re the ancient literature of North Wales and the 'Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan'; 252, genealogical data; 255, a list of ? titles of English poems headed 'for printing' (some of these correspond to the titles of the poems in Edward Williams: Poems Lyric and Pastoral); (continued)

256, notes on Fonmon Castle, Boverton Court, and Lantrithyd house [co. Glamorgan]; 257, instructions or rules relating to the submission of poems in competitions for bardic chairs and for bardic grades ('am radd'); 263, 265-6, notes relating to the accentuation of Welsh words and the use of monosyllabic and polysyllabic words in this context; 264-5, a brief note on the 'peithynen' with suggestions that the English also had a method of writing by inscribing on wood; 269-70, draft proposals for publishing a Welsh version of a treatise on rhetoric by [Anthony] Blackwall ('Traethawd ar Areithyddiaeth O Saesoneg y dysgedig Dr. Blackwall gan [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg'); 272, a plan of a fruit garden; 275 + 279 + 281, a draft title-page for, or proposals for publishing, Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain; 284 + 289, lists of 'houses in Cowbridge' and 'houses in Lantwit'; and 286, notes on 'coelbren beithyn' and 'coelbren gildwrn'. Interspersed amongst these items are groups or lists of Welsh words, transcripts of Welsh verse, extracts from Welsh poems, and other historical and literary miscellanea. In some instances notes have been written on the blank dorse or margins of a printed leaflet, 1798, proclaiming that an invitation had been extended, 1797, to bards to repair to Primrose Hill, London, Tyle y Gawl, Glamorgan, and Caerwys [co. Flint], for bardic meetings; printed proposals for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral in 1792; a ? holograph note from Mr. Dunn from St. Athans, to Mr. [Edward] Williams re the erection of a monument (in third person); a printed leaflet advertising 'New Music written and composed by John Parry' which was for sale; a printed leaflet advertising the sale by auction at Newton Nottage, Glamorganshire, September 1813, of the 'materials of the sloop Friends'; a ? holograph letter from J[ohn] Hughes from Brecon, to Mr. Edwd. Williams, Merthyr Tydfil [circa 1822], relating to the writer's Essay [?Essay on the Ancient and Present State of the Welsh Language, 1822] being prepared for publication (the letter is endorsed with a note in the hand of Edward Williams stating that 'Mr. Job James the Printer of this work' was unable to complete the printing of the said work as soon as had been hoped owing to certain difficulties including the fact that his office' was not furnished with some types and characters that were found necessary' and that 'the ordering and waiting for them' had caused delay; this note does not refer to John Hughes's Essay but, in all probability, to Edward Williams's own work Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain, publication of which was held up for the reasons specified in the note ('o eisiau digon o lythyrennau argraph'; see the introduction to the work)); a ? holograph, undated note from B. Williams to Mr. Williams re sending twenty grains of crude opium; printed proposals for publishing Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain in 1821; and a printed circular dated 16 August 1820 containing an appeal for funds for the completion of a Unitarian chapel at Merthyr Tydfil.

Miscellanea,

A volume (pp. 5-310) containing items of an extremely varied nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). Included, pagination in brackets, are lists or groups of Welsh words, sometimes with English definitions or equivalents or notes (17, 25, 29, 34, 38, 43, 47, 53, 80-82, 89, 102, 125-6, 134, 142, 157, 161, 170, 182, 196, 203, 219-20, 225, 235-6, 238, 242, 245, 247, 263, 282, 292); extracts from Aneurin's 'Gododdin' headed 'Silldorriadau Gododin' (119-20); notes, sometimes very brief, on or relating to Welsh bardism (21, 27, 57, 72, 127, 156, 187, 192-3, 195, 244, 258), song writing (32), the characteristics of the work of Cattwg, Taliesin, and Aneurin (32), the coming of the Cymry to Britain from Deffrobani and their loss of sovereignty to the Romans and Saxons (36), the knowledge of letters amongst the ancient Britons (37), King Arthur's court (46), the 'modern literary dialect of the Welsh' and the medieval prose and verse of South Wales (49), Welsh poetic metres called ' traethodyn milwr', 'traethodyn cwtta', and 'traethodyn chweban' (52), Merfyn Gwawdrych, 9th cent., and his contemporaries (61), the poet Twm ab Ifan ab Rhys, ? early 17th cent. (69), 'cynghanedd' and the Welsh strict poetic metres with references to an 'eisteddfod' in the time of Ifor ab Ifor of Maeshaleg, a bardic assembly at the monastery of Penrys [co. Glamorgan], temp. Edward IV, when Gwilym Tew exhibited an 'awdl', etc. (77- 8), white blackbirds and sparrows seen at Landough and wild canaries at Lantwit [co. Glamorgan] (98), the relinquishment or retention of ancient arts by nations in proportion to their progress (104), SiƓn Rhydderch and his Welsh grammar [Grammadeg Cymraeg, 1728] (119), the use of the prefixes an- and di- in Welsh (133), 'Tair Cynghanedd Anianol' (150 ), 'Cynghanedd ewinog' (151), the use of various rhymes and 'cynganeddion' in Welsh (152), bardic 'cadeiriau' of or at Llanfihangel Glyn Afan, 1355, Llangynwyd, 1452, Y Wenar, 1462, and Tir Iarll, 1488 (159), the two sounds of the letter Y in Welsh (160), the bardic 'Cadair Tir Iarll' (185), the construction of 'Coelbren y Beirdd' (242), the bard Owain ap Rhydderch, late 15th cent. (273), and manifestations or representations of God (290- 91); transcripts of Welsh poems or stanzas of Welsh poems or extracts therefrom attributed to Llelo Llantrisaint sef Llywelyn ap Hywel ap Ieuan ap Gronw (23), [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' (50, 68, 82, 87, 217), ? Twm ab Ifan ab Rhys (69), Llawdden (129-30), Wm. Moses (149), Taliesin (240, 242), Thos. Daf. Miles (266), Syr Roger Cyffin 'offeiriad Llanberis' (267), and Risiart Fychan 'o Gors y Gedol' (268); transcripts of unattributed Welsh poems including stanzas of hymn-tunes (23-4, 30, 34, 45, 51, 104, 115, 116, 121, 128, 1311, 148, 175, 191, 213, 232-3, 234, 274 + 283, 278-80); transcripts of English poems (107, 197, 212, 261, 284 + 273); miscellaneous Welsh triads (33, 172, 206, 247); short lists of Welsh proverbs or proverbial sayings (48, 167, 176, 231, 293); a prescription for the cure of rheumatism (50); an anecdote relating to the struggle between Caradawc ab Bran ap Llyr and the Romans, the burning of forests in Britain, and the building by Manawydan fab Llyr of a prison called 'Carchar Oeth ag Anoeth' from the bones of those slain in battle, allegedly extracted from [a manuscript called] the 'Yniales' (65-8; for another copy of the anecdote see NLW MS 13152A above); a prefatory note to an intended collection of proverbs, moral aphorisms, etc., allegedly composed or compiled by Cattwg Ddoeth (73-4); a list of old Welsh musical instruments ('Offerynau Cerdd arwest yr hen Gymry') (80); a transcript of the opening paragraph of an alleged version of 'Gramadeg Einiawn Offeiriad' (83); notes on (a) the situation and extent, and (b) the divisions of the county of Glamorgan being sections 1 and 2 of a projected chapter to be headed 'Geographical State and Circumstances' which presumably would have been Chapter 1 of a work on the said county (91-2); an incomplete list of bardic, literary, and other topics in English and Welsh, e.g. 'Cannons of Etymology', 'Miscellanies relating to Welsh poetry', 'Achau Saint Ynys Prydain', 'MSS. in Jesus College Library', under the superscription 'Collecting Sheets 8vo' (99); a list of nine topics such as 'Diarhebion Morganwg Annosparthus', 'Mangofion Gwynedd 1799', etc. (101); (continued)

A list of thirteen topics, e.g. 'Princes of Southwales', 'Anecdotes of Howel Dda', 'Meddygon Myddfai', etc., headed 'For Mr. Rees, Caermarthen' (105); copies of memorial inscriptions ? in St. Athan parish church (107-08); a list of six rules headed 'Unitarian Discipline' (113); a list of fifteen topics or personal names of a varying nature, e.g. 'Llangyndeyrn Marble at Caerm[arthe]n', 'Donne the Satirist', 'Taly Llycheu Church, D.G.' (114); a list of eight 'Ysgriflyfrau gan Iolo Morganwg 1800' (127); a list of Welsh proverbial sayings or advisory precepts some in verse form and some attributed to Cattwg Ddoeth (141, 144-6); a list of the names of six series of Welsh triads (147); a list of the names of thirteen persons headed 'Selfeducated persons in Glamorgan Vale' and a second list containing the names of eight persons headed 'Glamorgan Mountains' the persons named in this list apparently belonging to the same category as those in the first list (158); a list of eight topics or items, e.g. 'Llythyrau Dafydd o'r Nant', 'Rheolau Tudur Aled', etc., which were to be included in an unspecified work (164); brief genealogical data relating to the family of Einiawn Offeiriad (171); a list of Welsh 'Enwau Llefydd' ( 172); brief incomplete notes relating to the development of Welsh literature headed 'English Preface to Cyfrinach y Beirdd' (214); an explanatory note on 'cynghanedd groes' in the form of question and answer between pupil and master (251-2); a draft of a memorial and remonstrance to the members of, and subscribers to, the 'Fund of the South Wales Unitarian Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge' expressing concern at irregularities in the conduct of the society (265 + 260); patterns or examples of metres and metric lines headed 'Specimens of Welsh Lyrics and Verse' (262); a list of the names of six Welsh bards, 1650-80, to refute L[ewis] Morys's assertion that no good 'cywydd' had been written since the reign of Elizabeth (267); brief notes on the activities of [John] Poyer and [Rowland] Laugharne in the Civil War in South Wales and a list of English sovereigns, 1603-1760 (269); ? observations on a proposed 'Essay on the Ancient Welsh Literature', etc. (271); synopses of the contents of ? six chapters of a proposed 'Collection for a New History of Wales from Ancient Welsh MSS.' ('On the Origin of the Cimbri', 'Principles of Ancient British Government', 'The Ancient Institution of the Bards', etc.) (272); music for an unspecified air (296); and notes and a sketch relating to a plan of a 'meeting house, octagonal or circular' (298). Some of the notes, etc., have been written on the verso or in the margins of a copy of a printed notice by White and Barnards, Barge Masters, advertising their services, 1800 (100), a copy of a printed notice issued by the Caslon Letter Foundry, London, advertising their preparedness to provide printing types and materials (123), imperfect copies of a printed leaflet, 1797, announcing an 'eisteddfod' to be held under the patronage of the Gwyneddigion Society in 1798 (142-3, 204-05), a copy of printed proposals, 1811, for a new edition of 'The History of Wales written originally in Welsh by Caradoc of Llancarvan translated into English by Dr. Powell and augmented by W. Wynne' (194 + 191), 'An Exemplification of Masons' Work done for Robert Jones, Esqr., of Fonmon Castle . . . Burton Causway by William Baker, Mason, 1813 and 18[14] as attested by Thos. Raecliff and Edward Williams in 1814 (198-9, 210-11), a ? holograph letter from R. Evans from Cowbridge to . . ., undated (personal) (220-21), an account for goods purchased by E. Williams [? 'Iolo Morganwg'] from James Bradley, chemist, Cowbridge, in 1816 (226 + 239), a printed calendar of prisoners in ? Cardiff Gaol, ? 1803 (227 + 238), a copy of printed proposals for publishing George Dyer's Memoirs of the Life and Writings of . . . Robert Robinson of Chesterton (234 + 231), and a ? holograph note from Thomas William to Edward Williams [? 'Iolo Morganwg'], 1814, informing him that Christopher ? James wished to see him (259 + 266).