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Dafydd ap Gwilym, active 14th century Welsh language -- Dialects -- Wales -- Glamorgan English
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Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers containing material in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents are extremely varied. The section now paginated 137-64 appears to have been originally a home-made booklet with the present pp. 137-8, 163-4 (bluish, rough paper) as covers. P. 137 is inscribed 'Catalogue of Books at London, May 20th 1794', and is followed (pp. 141-55) by a list of two hundred and sixty-seven books and (p. 157) a list of Welsh manuscripts including those described as 'Byrdew Trebryn' (? Llanover B. 1, now NLW MSS 13061-13062B), 'Barddoniaeth Sils ap Siôn' (? Llanover B. 6, now NLW MS 13068B), and 'Marchog Crwydrad' (? Llanover E. 1, now NLW MS 13163B) (As Edward Williams was in London during the period 1791-1795, if the identification of the three aforementioned manuscripts is correct, it is possible that the catalogue is of Williams's books and manuscripts). P. 165 is inscribed 'Hints for a short exposition of the Prophecies relating to Antichrist' and is followed (pp. 167-83) by a short theological exposition of ideas relating to the existence of a 'trinity of Antichristian Powers', viz. civil tyranny, ecclesiastical tyranny, and human philosophy, a conflict involving these powers, and the ultimate triumph of a ? Christian theocracy. Other items include pp. 23-8, a list of Welsh manuscripts and of Welsh and English books with the superscription 'Catalogue of the Books & MSS. in this Box, Jan. 24th 1802 sent 4 sets Walter's Dict'y for Mr. O. Jones 14 Nos. Do. Mr. Williams, Strand, viz. from 7 to 14 inclusive. Nos. 14 four Copies, 1 Copy No. 13'; 38, 95, 185, 187, 300, 304, occasional Welsh triads; 43-7, a list of Welsh proverbs or proverbial sayings with occasional annotations; 59-63, two lists of English and Welsh books headed 'Jan. 1818 Books at Merthyr' and 'On the Bench in the lock'd up little Room' (? the second a continuation of the first); 81, a list of the hundreds of Morgannwg; 83, a list of species of apples; 87-94., notes headed 'Subjects of new songs, odes, etc., by E[dward] W[illiams], 1791', giving ? the subjects or themes and sometimes one or more stanzas of sixty-four songs, etc., mainly English; 95, a brief note on Dafydd ap Gwilym and the 'cywydd' measure; 96-8, notes containing a bitter attack by Edw[ar]d Williams on Theo[philus] Jones's work A History of the County of Brecknock [1805-1809]; 107-10, meteorological notes headed 'Meteorology. Observations on the Weather By the Late Revd. W. Jones of Pluckley (Moore's Almanack improved, 1808)'; 185, 200, 244, 245, 247-8, transcripts of 'englynion' attributed to [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg', Simwnt Fychan, Ednyfed Fychan, Thos. Lln. 'o Regoes', Ddd. Edward 'o Fargam', Jonathan Hughes, and Morgan Llywelyn 'o Gastell Nedd'; 190-91, an incomplete list of bards and musicians licensed at the 'eisteddfod' held at Caerwys [co. Flint], extracted from [Thomas] Pennant: A Tour [in Wales]; 207-16, extracts from various books of the Old Testament under the superscription 'Jewish Apostacy'; 249, a list of the subjects in literary competitions at an 'eisteddfod' ('Testuna'r Alban Elfed ar fynydd y Garth, 1798'); 255, 263, 265-6, 268-72, ? accounts in connection with mason's work done for various people, 1796-1808; 258, a list of 'Glam[organ] idioms'; and 301, a list of 'Graddau carennydd'. Also found are extracts from miscellaneous printed sources such as the New Annual Register, 1782 (Chinese hempseed), the Annual Register, 1772, the Crit[ical] Review, 1797 (a list of publications), and the Monthly Mag[azine], Nov. 1800 (the versification of Klopstock in his Messiah), groups or lists of Welsh words, extracts from the works of Welsh poets, and other miscellaneous items. Notes are found written on the verso or margins of a copy of a printed leaflet advertising a performance of 'King Henry 4th' to be given by the Young Gentlemen of Cardiff Academy in the town hall in Cardiff, 19 December 1806, copies of a printed leaflet containing proposals for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral, and the cover of a copy of The Bee or Literary Weekly Intelligencer, vol. X, no. 5, 1792.

Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers containing notes, transcripts, extracts, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together into one volume. The contents include pp. 1-16, extracts from the works of various Welsh bards under the superscription 'Bardic allusions to ancient usages, institutions, ideas, &c.'; 16, a list of the seven attributes of God ('Saith Angheneddyl Duw'); 16-17, a group of eight Welsh triads attributed to Syr Wiliam Herbert of Raglan; 18-19, a brief note on the Irish in Anglesey and North Wales; 19-20, Biblical allusions to the practice of writing on wood; 22-3, further extracts from the works of Welsh poets similar to those on pp. 1-16; 25, Welsh triads; 26, a transcript of an 'englyn' attributed to Evan Evans y Prydydd Hir; 27, three stanzas of a Welsh poem headed 'Pennillion Iolo Morganwg'; 34-5, a list of thirty-six 'Southwalian Gogynfeirdd'; 35, a brief note on Gruffudd ap Cynan's introduction of 'Scaldic Literature', etc., into Wales; 36-7, notes on the use of the 'englyn milwr' measure by 'Southwalian Bards', and on the meaning of the word 'anaw' and of the element 'chwyfan' in the name of the Flintshire antiquity 'Maen chwyfan'; 38-9, a list of 'Writers on the Art of Poetry now Extant' in South Wales and N[orth] Wales; 41, a query relating to 'the Caerwys Bards or Eisteddfod'; 41, a note on the Welsh bards' refusal to introduce fiction into poetry; 42-4, notes headed 'On Coelbren y Beirdd'; 45-50, notes headed 'Bards of the 11th to the 13th centuries' stressing the impact on Welsh poetry of the Scandinavian Scaldic influence introduced via the court of Gruffudd ap Cynan; 51-9, notes headed 'Bards of the 15th Century in S[outh] Wales' dealing mainly with the influence of Norman and Provencal poetry on the twelfth century Welsh poet Rhys Goch ap Rhys ap Rhiccart and other Welsh bards via the courts of the Norman lords in Glamorgan, its continuance in the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym, etc.; 60-73, notes headed 'Modern Poetry of North Wales' containing general, mainly derogatory comments on North Wales poetry from the seventeenth century onwards with references to Lewys Morris, Edward Morris, Hugh Moris, Rice Jones of Blaenau, Goronwy Owain, and other poets, the practice of borrowing or imitating metres from English songs and ballads, the results of the literary competitions inaugurated by the Gwyneddigion Society, etc.; 74-92 notes headed 'Modern South Walian Poetry' dealing mainly with the 'song writing' or 'popular poetry' tradition in South Wales as contrasted with North Wales; 93-6, notes relating largely to the tale called 'Cyfarwyddyd Einiawn ap Gwalchmai a Rhiain y Glasgoed'; 97-102, miscellanea headed 'Mân bethau perthynas (sic) i'r Beirdd a Barddoniaeth'; (continued)

104-08, notes relating to the society commonly known as 'Gwyr Cwm y Felin' which existed at Cwm y Felin in Betws Tir Iarll [co. Glamorgan], with references to its connection with the druidical and bardic tradition and its association with Lollardy in the past and Unitarianism in the present (see NLW MS 13121B above); 109, a transcript of three stanzas of Welsh verse headed 'Myned yn y maen. To take the chair. . .'; 110, notes on a theory that there were two poets called Dafydd Nanmor, the one a grandson of the other; 121, a list of seven rules headed 'Some Rules of Welsh versification'; 122, a 'scheme' or chapter headings for a 'History of the Bards'; 123-46, a short essay or article on the 'History of the Welsh Language' containing observations on the three main dialects, viz. Silurian, Demetian, and Venedotian, their use in Welsh literature, etc.; 147-9, lists of early bishops of Llandaf and of the bishops of Wales before the time of Garmon ('Escobion Cymru Cynog Amser Garmon'), and notes on the meaning of the words 'cor' and 'bangor'; 151-3, a pedigree of the ? Williams family of Aberpergwm; 163-88, notes and extracts relating to the manufacture of beet sugar, the cultivation of trees and potatoes, the making of varnishes, wines, etc., and medicinal recipes; 201-02, a note headed 'Bards secret and gripe'; 203, a list headed 'Proverbial and idiomatic expressions in Glamorgan'; 215-18, transcripts of miscellaneous Welsh verse including two 'englynion tawddgyrch cadwynog' attributed to Edward Evan 'o Aberdar' and Lewys Hopcin of the parish of Llandyfodwg [co. Glamorgan], an 'englyn' attributed to Siôn Tudur, and six stanzas headed 'Y Credadyn ar farw idd ei enaid' being reputedly a translation from Pope's ode entitled 'The dying Christian to his soul', and extracts from 'cywyddau' attributed to Edmund Prys; 228, notes headed 'Gwehelyth y Simwniaid'; 229, a note on madness in dogs; 240-41, a list of Welsh names of fruits; 247-53, extracts from The Monthly Review, 1790, vol. I, including a transcript of 'Robinson's Elegy on leaving Westminster College'; 278, a note referring to the tradition relating to the alleged Trojan colonization of Italy; 285-6, a ? draft of proposals for publishing a Welsh religious and literary journal to be called 'Goleugrawn Deheubarth Cymry', publication to be annually or quarterly, the first number to appear towards the beginning of 1817; 303- 05, an extract relating to 'healing wounded trees'; 310-11, notes on a proposed 'water wheel at ye present forge [at Kevan] . . ., 29 Jan. 1787'; 315-16, a horticultural note and a medicinal recipe; and 321-7, transcripts of three 'cywyddau' ? attributed to Dafydd ap Gwilym. Also found on various pages are groups or lists of Welsh words, miscellaneous Welsh triads, and other miscellaneous items. Some of the notes have been written on the blank verso or in the margins of copies of printed leaflets advertising 'Sea Bathing' and 'Genteel Lodgings' at the Ball, Swanbridge, seven miles from Cardiff, the wares of Tucketts and Fletcher, Bristol (Tucketts and Fletcher, grocers and tea-dealers, no. 11, Corn-Street, Bristol ([Bristol], [1795?], ESTC T230410)), and the wares of E. M. Downing at his 'Grand Musical Repository', Bristol, and a printed copy of 'An Elegy on the late Reverend John Wesley'.

Welsh word lists, etc.,

Miscellaneous papers containing lists, notes, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents consist largely of groups or lists of Welsh words. Included are lists with the superscriptions 'Geiriadur William Cynwal o Lyfr William Morys' with an added note 'medd Llyfr Dr. Williams o Gaernarfon o ba un y cymmerais i ef. I[orwer]th G[wily]m' (an incomplete alphabetical list A-D only; pp. 7- 38); 'Extracts from an old vocabulary' (pp. 111-13); 'Coincidences of Silurian and Cornish' (an incomplete alphabetical list A-G only; pp. 145- 60); 'Welsh Words from the Welsh Orbis Pictus (Merthyr)' (pp. 163-4); 'Cannons of Etymology' (pp. 171-3); 'North Walicisms' (p. 210); 'Welsh words collected in N[orth] W[ales]' (pp. 219-?20); 'Terms in sacred poetry, &c.' (p. 343); and '[Words from the] Gododin' (p. 375); and lists or groups without superscriptions. The Welsh words are often followed by English definitions or equivalents and the lists which appear on pp. 95- 110, 115-17, 127-8, 131-42, and 145-60 also give Breton or Cornish cognates. Pp. 255-69 contain an incomplete list of words (A-I only) with the superscription 'Welsh words from the Cotton MS.'. The words in this instance, however, are not Welsh but Cornish and correspond to those to be found in the old Cornish vocabulary which appears in [British Museum] Cottonian MS [Vespasian A. xiv] (see Henry Lewis: Llawlyfr Cernyweg Canol (Caerdydd, 1946), tt. 2-3. Internal evidence suggests that the present list may have been copied from that published in William Pryce: Archaeologia Cornu-Britannica . . . (Sherborne, 1790)). Also included in the volume are notes headed 'Deuddeg prif ragorgamp Cerdd dafod' (p. 170), a note on 'The Yniales Vocabulary . . . original (sic) compiled in this form by Hopkin ap Thomas . . .' (p. 174), a list of Glamorgan idioms (pp. 175-6), extracts from John Jones: The Tower of Babel or Essays on the confusion of tongues ( pp. 199-200), four stanzas of Welsh verse attributed to Watkin Powel 'o Ben y Fai' (p. 293), a list headed 'Barbarisms of Wm. Owain in D. G.' [? Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym, 1789] (pp. 325-6), a list of 'Names of God in various Languages' (pp. 345-7), a list of seven 'Peculiarites (sic) of the North Walian Dialect' (p. 387), various grammatical and etymological notes relating to the Welsh language, and other miscellanea. Notes in one instance have been written on the dorse of a ? holograph letter, June 1817, from William Vaughan from Lanelay to Mr. Jones, overseer of the poor of Tythegston, giving an opinion concerning a pauper's settlement and his contract with his master, and in two other instances on the dorse or margins of copies of a printed leaflet announcing the printing of Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral.