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Llanover Manuscripts Iestyn ap Gwrgant Horticulture.
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Miscellanea,

A composite volume containing notes, lists, transcripts, etc., of a very miscellaneous nature in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). The contents, pagination in brackets, include reflections on looking at the ruins of medieval castles more particularly those of Glamorgan (xi + xiv); lists or groups of Welsh words, sometimes with English definitions and / or illustrative excerpts from Welsh poems (5-8, 11, 13, 42-3, 45-52 72, 117, 124, 145-7, 163, 215, 218, 221-2, 227-9, 231, 233, 243-7, 251-4, 268, 302, 307, 316); a list of the titles of 'Cywyddau Ior[wer]th Morganwg' i.e. Edward Williams himself (9-10); a seven-stanza poem entitled 'Cân y Bore' by [Edward Williams] 'Iorwerth Morganwg' (15-19); brief lists of events with dates extracted from [Henry Rowlands:] Mona antiqua [restaurata] and [William] Camden [:?Britannia] (20-21); an extract relating to the 'cantrefi' of Morgannwg from 'Vol. 17, Plas Gwynn' [i.e. Panton MS 17 now NLW MS 1986] (22); notes on laws promulgated by Sir Robert Fitshammon [in Glamorgan in the late eleventh century] (53); brief notes headed 'Peculiarities of the orthography of Mr. Bassett of Lanelays Welsh MS. History of the 13 Knights' (41); brief notes referring to the Norman knights Sir Lawrence Berckrolls, Gilbert Humphrefil, and Sir William Le Esterling and the lands given to them [on the conquest of Glamorgan] (39- 40); brief notes headed 'Llyma son am Dywysogaeth a Phendefigaeth a Bonedd Morganwg' (36-7); a list of sixteen [Glamorgan] castles with brief notes thereon (34-5); notes relating to Morgannwg ? in the late eleventh and first half of the twelfth century with references to Paen Twrbil, an attack on Cardiff Castle ? led by Ifor Bach, a political and judicial system ? set up by Ifor Bach, a law promulgated by 'ffwg Morganwg' against foreigners, etc. (30-33); brief notes relating to meetings of the Welsh bards held in the various princes' courts four times a year ? during the second half of the eleventh century, the supervision of the bards' use of Welsh by the princes, the patronage of the bards by Rhys fab Tydyr Fawr and Nest, wife of Iestyn [ap Gwrgant], and a meeting arranged between the said Rhys, Nest, and Iestyn (27-9); brief notes relating to the division of his domain by Rhodri Mawr amongst his sons, the conditions imposed on them, the status and duties of the kings of various parts of Wales, etc. (24-6); drafts of a proposed title-page for Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain to be published in 1822 (57, 68); lines of Welsh verse to illustrate 'cynghanedd' of the 'groes rywiog' type (58, 67); brief notes on and a sketch to illustrate 'Cylch yr Abred', 'Cylch y Gwynfyd', and 'Cylch y Ceugant' (59); a list of bardic 'gorseddau' (60-61); notes relating to the creation of the twenty-four Knights of the Round Table by King Arthur and to the qualities and duties expected of such knights, a list of the twenty- four accomplishments they should be capable of, and a list of the names of sixteen of the said knights (62-6); a brief note relating to the bardic 'Cadair Tir Iarll' ? instituted in the time of Gilbart y Clâr (69); a brief note referring to the bards Risiart ap Iorwerth Fynglwyd and Hywel Hir ap Rhys ap Llywelyn (78); notes headed 'Y Ford Gron' referring to the organising of the Welsh bards, musicians, etc. (81-2); notes relating to procedure in connection with bardic meetings (86-7); a brief note attacking 'Win. Owen, Edward Davies, a'r Hen darn Tant E. Jones' (87); a note relating to the contents of 'Greal Beirdd Morganwg' ? an intended quarterly periodical (94); notes relating to the knowledge of letters amongst the Cimmeri on their arrival in Britain and amongst the Druids with references to Roman inscriptions and ancient British inscriptions (95- 6); brief notes on solemn days or festivals observed by Glamorgan bards and the bardic 'Round Table' of Morgannwg (113); an extract from a 'cywydd' attributed to William Cynwal ? illustrating certain bardic terms (115); an example of the bardic alphabet allegedly used by the Welsh bards (118-19); notes relating to the migrations of the Cymry and their coming to Britain ( 125); a brief note on the possible uses of inscribing on billets of wood, etc. (127); a list of ancient Welsh musical instruments ('offer cerdd oslef yr hen Gymry') extracted allegedly from 'an old imperfect MS. in Goetre Hen Library circa 1767 borrowed by John Bradford' (128); a note referring to the genuine poems of Taliesin and the spurious poems attributed to him, the writer disclaiming responsibility for including some of the latter in the 'Welsh Archaiology' stating that his main work in connection therewith had been 'travelling thro' Wales in search of old MSS.' (132 + 129); notes relating to 'coelbrenni rhin', 'coelfeini cyfrin', etc. (137-8); notes referring to the reintroduction of the bardic 'Dosparth y Ford Gron' into Wales from Brittany by Rhys ap Tewdwr, a meeting ? in 1075 between Rhys and Iestyn ap Gwrgan for this purpose and ? to organise the order of Welsh bards and musicians, a further meeting between the two in 1077 leading to a quarrel concerning Nest, wife of Iestyn, the coming of Robert fab Ammon and the Norman knights to Iestyn's aid, and their eventual conquest of his realm (139-41); a suggestion relating to 'Y Bardd Glas o'r Gadair' and 'cynghanedd' (142-3); notes relating to bardic ceremonial headed 'Dosparth y Ford Gronn' (149-51); notes relating to ? the proclaiming of 'eisteddfodau', etc. (161-2); a brief note on the 'bardd teulu' (163); a brief note relating to the intellectual state of the [early] Cymry (169); general remarks contrasting the poets of North and South Wales (170-71); notes relating to the fate of the souls and spirits of men after death (177-9); a note relating to the work of the 'Welsh bards as tutors' (181); an anecdote relating to Einigan Gawr and Menw ap y Teirgwaedd and the origin of knowledge (183); transcripts of two 'awdlau' attributed to Prolh o Gil Fai and Iorwerth Llwyd ap y Gargam, stanzas attributed to Gwalchmai ap Meilir, and unattributed verse (187-97); extracts from [Edward Davies's series of 'Letters on Celtic Literature to Mr. Justice Harding previous to the publication of The Celtic Researches'] with occasional comments [by Edward Williams] (205-11); (continued)

A transcript of three of the old Welsh 'englynion' usually designated 'englynion y Juvencus' with a version in modern orthography [all probably transcribed from Edward Lhuyd: Archaeologia Britannica, p. 221] (212); copies of two 'englynion' by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' himself (215); extracts relating to the early Cimbrians or Kimmeri and their connection with Thrace (223); miscellaneous extracts from Welsh verse (225-6, 239-40); a list of titles headed 'Odes by E. Wins.' (232); an agricultural note headed 'Irish Course of Culture' (233); a list of personal names headed 'July 28th Bath. Poems delivered to' (234); a list of Welsh phrases headed 'Phrases in common use in Glamorgan & also amongst the Persians and other Mahometans' (249-50); two lists of Welsh triads the first headed 'Dewisolion o Drioed[d] Cerdd Iaco ap Dewi gerllaw dechreu Llyfr Mr. Thos. Evans o Frechfa', and the second 'Trioedd gweddus ar ddyn & ex idem (Dewisolion)' (273-6); extracts by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' from one of Lewis Morris's manuscripts called Prif Ancwyn Gorhoff' being No. 43 of the Welsh School Manuscript Collection in London including a version of the statute for Welsh bards and musicians attributed to Gruffydd ab Cynan ('Statud y Gwyr wrth Gerdd o waith Gruffydd ab Cynan'), bardic triads, a list, with examples of some, of the twenty-four Welsh strict poetic metres, lists with headings such as 'Saith cas ar ferched', 'Chwe casbeth gan Dduw', and 'Cas gan hwsmon bum peth', etc. (277-93; this manuscript numbered 43 was one of the manuscripts listed as missing from the Welsh School Collection when it was presented to the British Museum in 1844, see B. M. Additional MS 14955); a list of Welsh triads headed 'Dewisolion o Drioedd gweddus eu dysgu Iaco ab Dewi (Ll. Th. Evans)' (294-6); a copy of a proclamation that a 'Cadair wrth Gerdd Dafawd' would be held 'ar dwyn y Bettws yn Nhir Iarll' in 18[?2]1 (301); extracts from the preface to Thomas Jones: [An] English [and] Welsh Dictionary, 1811, with a comment by E[dward] W[illiams] (304-05); a list of eleven Glamorgan river-names ('enwau nentydd ag afonydd Morganwg') (312); historical notes relating to Welsh poetry including notes on the 'Silurian School', 'a monster to whom we may apply the appellation of the School of Carmarthen . . . engendered between the false Taste of Dafydd ap Edmund and the ignorance of Gruffudd ap Nicolas', the establishing of the Carmarthen school in North Wales and its duration for two centuries, the decline of the said school and the emergence of a new school with the coming of bards such as Hugh Morris, Edward Morys, etc., the attempts of the Gwyneddigion Society to revive the Carmarthen school in North Wales, the song-writing tradition in South Wales, and Richard Hughes, the sixteenth century Caernarvonshire poet, described as 'the oldest song writer of undoubted authenticity' [in North Wales] (313-14, 311-12); horticultural and agricultural notes giving instructions what to do in each month of the year (324, 321-3, 326, 319-20 ); and notes headed 'Llyma'r ddosparth a wnaeth y Brenin Arthur ar gadw achau a chof am fonhedd Cynhenid Cenedl y Cymry' (328-9). Some of the notes are written on the verso or margins of an incomplete copy of a pamphlet announcing a literary competition (composing a 'cywydd') organised by the Gwyneddigion in 1822, a ? holograph letter from William Williams from Cowbridge to Mr. Williams, Geilston, 1806 (requesting assistance in 'taking estimat of the work unfinis'd at the bridwell'), and copies of a pamphlet announcing the printing of Edward Williams's two volumes of English poems entitled Poems Lyric and Pastoral. Inset is a printed copy of a circular letter from Thomas Stephens as honorary secretary of the Merthyr Cymreigyddion Society, 184 . . ., announcing the society's intention of holding an eisteddfod on (blank), stating what the objectives of the society were, and asking for subscriptions.

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers containing notes, lists, transcripts, jottings, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. Verse items include Welsh poems by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' including an eighteen-stanza poem ?composed in connection with a bardic meeting at Llanilldud Faerdref, Glamorgan, 1797 ('a ddatganwyd yngorsedd Alban Hefin ar fynydd Garth Llanilldud Faerdref ym Morganwg, 1797') (17-29 ), six stanzas ('Salm Newydd') written in connection with 'cadair Morganwg, Alban Hefin, 1797' (35-6), four 'englynion' written in connection with 'cadair Llantrisaint, Alban Hefin, 1767' (93), and miscellaneous other poems (43-4, 53-?7, 61, 70, 73, 77-8, 82, 91, 97, 113, 120, 149-50, 312, 365); transcripts of Welsh poems by other poets including a 'cywydd' attributed to Hywel Llwyd (103-07), eleven stanzas entitled 'Can yr Hen wr o'r Coed' with a note on the author Siencyn lygad Rhawlin of the parish of Llantrisaint Misgin (143-6), three 'englynion' attributed to Siôn Tudur (151), poems attributed to Edward Dafydd and Llen. Siôn 'o Langewydd' (161- 7), an 'englyn' attributed to Ednyfed Fychan (197), 'Cywydd y Messiah' attributed to the Rev. Evan Evans ('Ieuan Wynfardd o Geredigion') (205-16), a sequence of six 'englynion' attributed to Elis Wynn with a note on the author (217-19), an 'englyn' attributed to Richard Philip (307), 'englynion' attributed to Siôn Cent and Gruff. ab Lleision (321), and a sequence of five 'englynion' attributed to D[afydd ap] Gwilym (328); transcripts of, or extracts from, miscellaneous Welsh poems, mostly anonymous (37-41, 48-52, 58-60, 65, 72, 75, 78-9, 89-90, 95, 97-8, 102, 168-72, 341, 366, 372, 380-82 (eight stanzas entitled 'Ffanni Blodau'r Ffair'), 387-8, 390); and transcripts of English poems (89-90, 92, 97, 99- 101, 147, 312, 377-9 (fourteen stanzas headed 'Neath volunteers, a new song' and having the name 'Mrs. Bevan, Neath' at the end), 387-90). Prose items include notes on Bran ab Llyr and his family referred to in the Welsh poem by Edward Williams to be found on pp. 23-9 (30-34), data relating to the birth, baptism, marriage, and death of an Edward Williams, and the birth, baptism, and death of his daughter Elizabeth, the dates ranging from 1747 to 1795 (111; see IM, tt. 80-81), a list of twenty-four personal names under the heading 'MSS. in the hands of common people in Wales' (119), brief notes on post - Roman Wales, historical and literary (121 + 123), a brief note relating to literary figures associated with Glamorgan in medieval times (125), comments, presumably by Edward Williams, on contemporary literary figures in Gwynedd, viz. [David Thomas] 'Dafydd Ddu a'i gywion' and Robert Davies, and in South Wales, viz. Lewis Hopcin of the parish of Llandyfodwg, Siôn Bradford ('Ieuan Tir Iarll'), the Reverend Edward Ifan of Aberdar, the Reverend Thos. Richards of Llangrallo, the Reverend J. Walters, the Reverend [Thomas] Llywelyn, Rhys Morgan of Pencraig Nedd, Dafydd Nicolas of Aberpergwm, and Edward Williams of Llancarvan, these latter being acquaintances of the writer (127-33), a brief note on aphoristic literature, proverbs and triads, etc., in Welsh (138), a note on the natural features of the parish of Llancarvan [co. Glamorgan] (141), a note on 'cynghanedd' attributed to Meiryg Dafydd (151), incomplete notes on bardism beginning 'Llyma Lyfr y Barddas sef Dosparth cyfarwyddyd a wnaeth Ceraint Fardd Glas ar gelfyddyd a gorwyddawd . . . Beirdd Ynys Prydain' (156-7), a list of words [in the Scottish language] headed 'Alan Ramsay's Glossary' (175-9), a medicinal recipe (184), a copy of the inscription on the tombstone of Lydia Phell (ob. 1699) in Quaker's Yard, parish of Merthyr Tydvil, and notes relating to her and her connection with the Quakers (186-7), a brief chronicle of events in Welsh history, mainly in South Wales, 1172-1280 (193-8), notes relating to Gilbert de Clare (temp. Edward I) and to a battle between Wiliam ab Ysbwrn and Iestin ab Gwrgan in 1072 (199-200), ? a copy of the title-page of Theophilus Lindsey: Conversations on the Divine Government . . . (London, 1802) (225), a Welsh version of the text of the Gospel of Nicodemus ('Llyma Efengyl Nicodemys . . . a drosed o'r Lladin gan Syr Dafydd Fychan . . . ') (239-87), horticultural notes (303), a transcript of a letter to the reader written by Dafydd Llwyd in 1663 as an introduction to a history of the Norman Conquest of Glamorgan compiled by him from such sources as the works of Caradoc of Llancarvan, Syr Edward Stradling, Syr Edward Mawnsell, and Antoni Powel of Llwydarth (305-06, 313-16; for an opinion that this prefatory letter was compiled by Edward Williams himself see TLLM., t. 201), a copy of proposals for raising funds for financing a new version of the English Bible (308-09), the music of a 'March by E. Wms' ( 310), brief notes of historical events, meteorological phenomena, etc., in Britain, 60 A.D.-1703 A.D., in non-chronological order (317-18, 322-4), a copy of an epitaph to William Collins ? in Bath abbey (329), a note relating to the mythological account of the origin of letters and subsequent additions to the original number (334), an anecdote relating to a visit to the court of the Emperor of Constantinople by Rhys ap Tewdwr and Iestin ab Gwrgant, their return to Wales, and their quarrel concerning Nest, wife of Iestin, etc. (335-6), notes on 'greeting' and 'questing' poems in Welsh and the practice of making birds, the wind, etc., messengers in such poems (337-8), notes on the early 'systematizing' of the Cimmeric language (346), chronological extracts from the Welsh chronicle 'Brut y Saeson' (349-50, 353-4), a scheme or chapter subject - headings for a proposed history of Wales ('Hanes Cymru yn wyth rhann') ( 352), 'A Table of the Roman Kalendar' (356-7), genealogical data relating to Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg')'s family on his mother's side gathered allegedly in conversations with Lewys Hopcin, a kinsman (363-4), very brief notes relating to the bards D[afy]dd ap Gwilym, Sion Cent, Rhys Goch Eryri, Iolo Goch, and Rhys Goch 'o Dir Iarll' (375), a copy of a letter from [Edward Williams] 'Iorwerth Gwilym' from Trefflemin, 1770, [to the publishers of Trysorfa Gwybodaeth] expressing his delight at their publishing venture and offering a sequence of twelve 'englynion' (also transcribed) for publication (see Trysorfa Gwybodaeth neu Eurgrawn Cymraeg, 1770) (384-6), and groups or lists of Welsh words including place-names and proper names (62, 71, 81-2, 92, 148, 341, 347-8 371, 376). Notes in a few instances have been written on the blank dorse or margins of copies of a printed leaflet announcing the publication of Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral, and a copy of a printed leaflet announcing the publication of 'A Complete Directory and Guide to the town of Cardiff, the Town and Castle of Caerphilly, . . .' in 1813.