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Diary of Margaret Ormsby (née Owen), of Brogyntyn, containing brief entries for the years 1757-1773, apparently copied from the original journals, and referring mainly to deaths, marriages and social engagements.

Letters and papers of Margaret Owen of Penrhos, parish of Llandrinio, Montgomeryshire, granddaughter of Sir Robert Owen of Clenennau and Brogyntyn (ff. 1-17), together with an autograph draft, 1836, by John Ralph Ormsby-Gore, of his poem 'The Knights of St John of Jerusalem' (published in 1838) (ff. 22-42).
The correspondence includes letters from Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale (later Piozzi), [1778]-1805 (ff. 2-3, 8-13), Dr Samuel Johnson, 8 March 1781 (ff. 4-5), and Fanny Burney, 11 November 1785 (ff. 6-7). A few items have been boxed seperately on account of their format (see Brogyntyn MS II.38ii).

A few items kept separate from the remainder of Brogyntyn MS II.38 on account of their format. They comprise a copy of J[ohn] R[alph] O[rmsby] G[ore], The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem... (London, 1838) (the autograph draft of which is in MS II.38i, ff. 22-42); two leaves from a reprinted copy of The Times, 3 October 1798 (see MS II.38i, ff. 20-21, for photocopies); and a wallet containing a few blank leaves.

A volume containing a transcript, written in the same mid-nineteenth century hand as compiled Brogyntyn MS II.40, of a 1786 copy of 'Antiquities and Memoirs of the Parish of Middle in the County of Salop', begun in 1700 by Richard Gough of Newton, Myddle, Shropshire, illustrated with additional pedigrees, coats of arms, sketches, including one of Myddle parish church in 1810 (f. 8), and maps and plans, including a plan of the arrangements of pews in Myddle parish church in 1807 (f. 6 verso) which is placed before the plans of the pews in 1701 given by Richard Gough (f. 7 recto-verso); together with a list of illustrations (f. iii) and an alphabetical index of subjects and personal names (ff. 286-288 verso).
The original manuscript, 1700-[c. 1702], is now Shrewsbury, Shropshire Archives MS 1525/1. The work was first published from an imperfect copy by Sir Thomas Phillipps under the title Human Nature Displayed in the History of Middle, by Richard Gough (Broadway: Middle Hill Press, 1834); the first faithful edition was Antiquities & Memoirs of the Parish of Myddle, County of Salop, Written by Richard Gough, A.D. 1700 (Shrewsbury, 1875). Later editions include The History of Myddle, ed. by David Hey (Penguin Books, 1981).

A Bible, written in France, [13 cent., first ¼]. Texts: 'Hic incipit epistola beati Ieromini ...' [Friedrich Stegmüller, Repertorium biblicum medii aevi (Madrid, 1950-80) 284] (ff.1-2); Stegmüller 284 repeated (ff. 3-4); and The Bible (ff. 5-352). The OT, compared with the order established about 1230 in Parisian Bibles (see for instance N. R. Ker and A. J. Piper, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries (Oxford, 1969- ), I, 96-97) lacks the Prayer of Manasses and 2 Ezra. The unusual NT order is: Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, Pauline Epistles and Apocalypse. For the OT, prologues are lacking for 2 Chronicles, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom (the Paris prologues for the latter two are added by another hand in the margin), that for Tobit is Stegmüller 349, while the series for the Minor Prophets, Amos to Machabees, is Stegmüller 512, 516, 522, 525, 527, 529, 532, 535, 540, 544 and 551. The only prologues in the NT are, for the Gospels, Stegmüller 590, 607, 615 and 624, for Acts 640; for the Catholic Epistles (James) Jacobus ecclesie ierosolimitane post apostolos curam et regnum suscepit ... uel inuisibiliter percutiat; and for the Epistle to the Romans, Stegmüller 662. The hand which added the prologues in the margin of the OT also added in the margin the standard prologues for the Pauline Epistles up to Philippians.
The text was corrected throughout, before decoration (see f. 104); it was annotated and further corrected by several thirteenth-century hands. Some of the larger omissions, neatly made good in the margin by the scribe, have their text otiosely repeated, in circles, by a contemporary hand. Between 2 Chronicles and Esther, chapter divisions were revised by one of the correcting hands, in conformity with the Paris Bible, most notably in Esther, where nine chapters become sixteen. The text is lightly glossed throughout, by pen and plummet, by the same thirteenth-century hands. Cited by glosses, apart from the Fathers, are Bede (ff. 281 verso, 323), Raban (f. 270), Hugh of St Victor (ff. 5, 245 verso, 258, 323 verso), Richard of St Victor (f. 160) and 'Ray[mund]' (f. 166).

A volume entitled 'Armorial Bearings of the Bailif[f]s & Mayors of Shrewsbury From Anno Dom. MCCCLXXII', comprising 786 coats of arms, almost all painted, of the bailiffs and mayors of the town of Shrewsbury, arranged chronologically from 1372 to 1861 (the shields of the mayors from 1853 to 1861 are empty), together with notes recording historical events in Shrewsbury written on the facing pages and an index of personal names on ff. 2-3 verso. The autographs of many of the mayors, especially from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, are supplied by cut signatures pasted alongside their respective coats of arms.
The volume was in the possession of the Shropshire antiquary Thomas Farmer Dukes (d. 1850); he was mayor of Shrewsbury in 1831 and his signature occurs here alongside his coat of arms (f. 50). The shields for the years 1851 to 1861 were added after his death. Pasted on f. 50 verso is a letter, [1852x1860], from the Shrewsbury genealogist Joseph Morris to William Ormsby-Gore, listing the names of the mayors of Shrewsbury from 1848 to 1852, with descriptions of their coats of arms; another hand has added in pencil the names of the mayors from 1853 to 1862.

A copy of Siôn Dafydd Rhys, Cambrobrytannicæ Cymraecæve Lingvae Institvtiones et Rvdimenta... (London: Thomas Orwin, 1592, ESTC S115912), with manuscript additions in a number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century hands throughout the volume and on the back fly-leaves, including Welsh verse in strict and free metre on pp. 98, 151, 196, 200 and 308-309, and 'pedwar mesir arhigain Cerdd Dant', 'y pedwar mesir arhugain Cerdd dafod' and 'y saith fesur ar hugain, ne'r saith fesurau [Cerdd Dant]' on pp. 305-307, together with a drawing of a Welsh triple harp and a diagram illustrating the tuning of its three sets of strings on p. 308.
The Welsh verses on p. 98 are probably in the hand of Robert Lloyd, whose name occurs on pp. 95, 98 and 157, and those on pp. 196 and 200 in the hand of Ffoulk Edwardes, whose name occurs on p. 156. The eighteenth-century hand which added the dates to poems on pp. 45, 164, 181, 183, 184, 190 and 248 probably also copied the verses on pp. 151, 248 and the texts on pp. 305-309.

A volume, dated 27 November 1625, containing the only known manuscript copy of John Fletcher's play Demetrius and Enanthe (see John Fletcher, Demetrius and Enanthe: A Pleasant Comedie, ed. by Margaret McLaren Cook and F. P. Wilson, Malone Society (Oxford, 1951)). It was first published in 1647, as 'The Humorous Lieutenant', in Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Comedies and Tragedies (London, 1647, Wing B1581) and later separately as The Humorous Lieutenant; or, Generous Enemies: A Comedy... (London, 1697, Wing F1344).
The manuscript contains a dedicatory letter, dated 27 November 1625, 'To the honorable Sir Kelham [sic] Digbie knight', beginning 'Worthie Sir: I know, that to a Man of your religious Inclination', and ending 'as upon one that shall still reioyce to be esteemed/Your Commaunded Beades=man/ Raph Crane' (f. v); and Demetrius and Enanthe: first line 'Round, round: perfume it round: look you dilligently...'; last line 'And hang a Coward now: and there's my Song' (pp. 1-126). This transcript, containing passages not included in the printed texts, was made by the poet and copyist Ralph Crane (c. 1550s-1632; see F. P. Wilson, 'Ralph Crane, scrivener to the King's Players', The Library, 7 (1927), 194-215), and presented by him to Sir Kenelm Digby. The title page (f. iv) attributes the play to John Fletcher alone. Ancilliary materials, comprising correspondence, 1926-1948, of F. P. Wilson relating to his research on the manuscript, are filed separately (Brogyntyn MS II.42a).

A volume, [1760s]-[1770s], compiled by various hands, containing verse and prose, mainly relating to theatrical performances and to contemporary events and personalities.
Also included are a few records relating to the 57th Regiment of Foot (ff. 10, 43, 75, 88 verso-89 verso, 90 verso-91 verso, 92 verso and inside the back cover). Some of the items are numbered, and are indexed on f. 1 recto-verso.

A volume containing a late-eighteenth century copy of 'A Short Account of the Rebellion in North & South Wales in Oliver Cromwell's Time copy'd from a Manuscript', recording events in Wales during the English Civil War from its commencement in 1642 to the execution of Charles I in 1649 and through the Commonwealth Period until 1656 (ff. 1-13 verso, 22-30; ff. 12 verso-13 verso and f. 28 are in Welsh).
The author gives a non-partisan account of the conflict, although sometimes referring to the excesses of the Parliamentary forces; his statement on f. 1 verso that he was a resident of Llanfachreth and Dolgellau, Merionethshire, suggests an identification with Robert Vaughan (1592?-1666) of Hengwrt. The volume also includes a short chronology of events in England, Scotland, Ireland, and abroad, 1600-1653 (ff. 14-19); the names of the principal officers and the numbers from other ranks taken and killed at the Battle of Nantwich, 25 January 1643 (f. 19 verso); 'The Humble Petition of many Thousands in ye Counties of Northwales', concerning the ejection of ministers from their churches and the sequestering of tithes by the Act made 22 February 1649 for propagating the gospel in Wales (f. 20); memoranda and copies of documents relating to the parliamentary elections for Merionethshire, 1654 and 1658, including a letter, 30 September 1654, from Simon Thelwall, Plas-y-Ward, and Humphrey Jones, Plas-yn-ddôl, to the friends of John Vaughan, Cefnbodig, Penllyn, one of the candidates, and a letter, 23 December 1658, from Howel Vaughan, Glan-y-llyn, and others to Lewis Owen, Peniarth, expressing their opinion that the latter would be a fit person to serve as member for the county at the next Parliament (ff. 20 verso-21 verso); and an account of an apparition of a battle seen in 1656 by eight eyewitnesses at Tre'r-go between Newborough and Aberffraw, Anglesey (ff. 29 verso-30).

A volume entitled 'Observations relative to the Character of King Charles Ist By Mr. Wm. Lily (the celebrated Astrologer)', comprising two short extracts copied, [mid-18 cent.], from 'Several observations upon the life and death of Charles late king of England', by William Lilly, which was published as an appendix to Mr. Lilly's History of his Life and Times: Written by Himself (London, 1715); with a brief account of the author (ff. 5 verso-6 verso).

A volume containing a manuscript copy of 'Δαιμονιωδησ: or The Ungratefull Dæmon Dispossessed. Being, A Second Reply to ye Rage & Ravings of J. Partridge: design'd for ye recovery of his Senses againe, w[hi]ch have bin lately Shipwrack'd in ye Rough Seas of Ingratitude, Immorality, Scandall, &c', being an unpublished sequel by the astrologer John Gadbury to his previously published attack upon his former pupil, the astrologer and almanac-maker John Partridge, entitled A Reply to that Treasonous and Blasphemous Almanack for 1687 (London, 1687, Wing R1065A). Textual emendations by the scribe throughout the work suggest it to be a holograph copy, probably written in about 1690 (see the reference on f. 9 to Partridge's Almanack of 1690).
The rivalry between Gadbury and Partridge was political as well as personal; the former had Roman Catholic sympathies and supported James II, whereas the latter was Protestant and fled to Holland after the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion, not returning to England until 1689. Gadbury's Almanack of 1689, in which he predicted the triumph of James II over William of Orange, is dedicated to Sir Robert Owen of Brogyntyn and a copy in presentation binding is now at Glyn Hall (Inventory (1985), p. 123).

A volume containing a chronology, [early 18 cent.], of Biblical, classical and Saxon history, with strange combinations of letters, sometimes forming words, written above each event.

A volume containing notes in legal French, [late 16 cent. x early 17 cent.], on English land law, with an index of subjects (f. 124 recto-verso).

A volume containing notes, [c. 1611], in legal French headed 'Lectura mea super statutum 31 Eliz. Regine Cap. 6', relating to the practice of simony. Much of the content refers to academic and ecclesiastical institutions.

The Tretyse of þe Seven Poyntes of Trewe Love and Everlastynge Wisdame, translated from the Latin Horologium Sapientiae; see the edition of K. Horstmann, 'Orologium Sapientiae or the Seven Poyntes of Trewe Wisdom aus MS. Douce 114', Anglia, 10 (1888), 323-389, from Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 114 (announced variant readings from Caxton never published). W. Wichgraf, 'Susos Horologium Sapientiae in England nach Handschriften des 15. Jahrhunderts', Anglia, 53 (1929), 123-,33, 269-287, 345-373, and ibid. 54 (1930), 351-352, identifies the Latin origin of the text in Henry Suso's Horologium Sapientiae, comments on Horstmann's edition and lists five manuscripts of the complete English text, excluding ours, together with manuscripts in which chapters 4 and 5 each appear on their own; see also W. Wichgraf, 'Susos Horologium Sapientiae in England nach Mss des 15. Jahrhunderts', Archiv für neueren Sprachen und literaturen, 169 (1936), 176-181, which includes discussion of MS Cambrai 255.
The Latin colophon on f. 90, referring to Mount Grace, is probably derivative; it appears at the end of the same text in MS Cambrai 255 (see Catalogue générale des manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, vol. 17 (Paris, 1891), p. 88; cf. N. R. Ker, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain (London, 1964) and Andrew G. Watson, Medieval Libraries of Great Britain: Supplement to the Second Edition (London, 1987), Mount Grace). Written by a single hand, in good anglicana formata. Brown ink. Parti-coloured red/blue 7-line initials on ff. 1 verso and 8, accompanied by red and purple penwork and by red/blue nerfs and flourished borders; on f. 1 and elsewhere for chapter-openings, 3-line blue initials with red penwork (4-line for 'I' on f. 41 verso); headings and sidenotes in red, alternate red and blue paragraph marks.

A volume containing abstracts, [late 19 cent.], of official correspondence and documents dated 1485-1645, arranged chronologically, relating to members of the Owen family of Clenennau; the original letters are to be found among the Clenennau Letters and Papers in NLW, Brogyntyn Estate and Family Records.
Tipped in is a short account, [mid-18 cent.], of 'The civil War between K. Charles 1st & his Parliament', with the note 'To be put in Manuscript cupboard, WWEW' added in pencil in the hand of W. W. E. Wynne, Peniarth (ff. 29, 30).

A parchment roll, written in England, [13 cent., second ½], containing the pedigree-chronicle of biblical history attributed to Peter of Poitiers [Petrus Pictaviensis]. Text is written in textura; ink, dark brown. The scribe uses red and blue for display script; two-line initials in blue.
On the Compendium Historiæ (or Promptuarium Bibliæ), see H. Vollmer, Deutsche Bibelauszüge des Mittelalters zum Stammbaum Christi mit ihren lateinischen Vorbildern und Vorlagen (Potsdam, 1931) and Thomas Jones, Y Bibyl Ynghymraec (Cardiff, 1940), pp. xiii-xxxiv, with a listing of 33 manuscripts. On the English derivatives see Albinia de la Mare, Catalogue of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts Bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, by James P. R. Lyell (Oxford, 1971), pp. 80-85, 461. See also Hans-Eberhard Hilpert, 'Geistliche Bildung und Laienbildung: Zur Überlieferung der Schulschrift "Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi", Compendium veteris testamenti des Petrus von Poitiers (+1205) in England', Journal of Medieval History, 11 (1985), 315-331 (p. 329). The texts preceding and following the Compendium in the present manuscript are also associated with it in BL, Royal 14.B.ix.

A pedigree chronicle of biblical and British history from Adam to Edward IV, written not before 1461 and probably not after 1466 (none of Edward IV's children are shown), evidently in the same London or Westminster workshop as that postulated by Albinia de la Mare, Catalogue of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts Bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, by James P. R. Lyell (Oxford, 1971), p. 82, as the place of production of a number of closely related pedigree-chronicles in roll or roll-codex form, some in Latin and some in English. The hand looks the same as that of Lyell MS 33 (see ibid., plate VI), while the layout, decoration and miniature of the Fall are very similar. Near the miniature of the Fall is a note in English, [17 cent.].
The preface and biblical history derive from the Compendium Historiæ in Genealogia Christi (otherwise known as the Promptuarium Bibliæ) of Peter of Poitiers; see H. Vollmer, Deutsche Bibelauszüge des Mittelalters sum Stammbaum Christi mit ihren lateinischen Vorbildern und Vorlagen (Potsdam, 1931) and Thomas Jones, Y Bibyl Ynghymraec (Cardiff, 1940), where thirty-three manuscripts are listed on pp. xvii-xx. The text as a whole belongs to category B identified by de la Mare, op. cit., p. 83, a group of manuscripts compiled in the reign of Edward IV with which ours has features other than the text in common. For the work of a closely related illuminator see R. M. Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of Corpus Christi College Oxford (Cambridge, 2011), p. 101.

Parchment roll bearing the order of the funeral procession of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, 'from Denmarke Howse in the Stronde to Westminster Abbay the 27 Daie of May 1619'. Interspersed with the names and titles of individuals are nine polychrome illustrations of emblazoned banners, each held by a cuffed hand, and representing the arms of the queen as carried during the funeral procession.