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Dafydd Nanmor, active 1450-1490 Welsh language -- History.
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Brut Ieuan Brechfa; Brut Aberpergwm; triads, etc.

A composite volume containing miscellaneous historical and literary material in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). Pp. 24-36 contain a transcript of a version of the medieval Welsh Chronicle of the Princes associated with the name of the fifteenth century poet and genealogist Ieuan Brechfa with the title or superscription 'Brut y Tywysogion . . . a dynnwyd o Lyfrau Caradawc Llancarfan ac eraill o hen Lyfrau Cyfarwyddyd a ysgrifenodd Ieuan Brechfa'. The transcript was allegedly made by Edward Williams from a volume in the possession of Rhys Thomas, printer, of Cowbridge, and the text was published in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, vol. II, 1801, pp. 470-565 (bottom section of pages). Pp. 37-135 contain one of the two known reputed transcripts by Edward Williams of the allegedly variant version of the aforesaid Welsh Chronicle of the Princes known as 'Brut Aberpergwm' or the 'Gwentian Brut'. The title or superscription reads 'Llyma Vrut y Tywysogion val y bu Ryfeloedd a Gweithredoedd enseiliaid a Dialeddau a Rhyfeddodau gwedi eu tynnu o'r hen gofion cadwedig a'u blynyddu'n drefnedig gan Garadawc Llancarfan', and the text was reputedly transcribed by [Edward Williams] 'Iorwerth Gwilym' in 1790 from one of the manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Richards, curate of Llangrallo [co. Glamorgan], who, in turn, had reputedly copied the work in 1764 from a manuscript in the possession of George Wiliams of Aber Pergwm [co. Glamorgan] (see p. 135). For the other reputed transcript of this text allegedly from the same source see NLW MS 13113B (Llanover C. 26) above. Other items in the volume include pp. 13-18, variant versions of parts of the introductory section to Lewis Dwnn's Visitations (see S. R. Meyrick (ed.): Heraldic Visitations of Wales . . . by Lewys Dwnn (Llandovery, 1846), pp. 7 and 9); 18-20, a list of eleven Welsh writers who had recorded the genealogies and deeds of the Welsh ('sgrifennyddion a gadwasant gof am achau a gweithredoedd y Cymry') allegedly copied from a book in the possession of Ben Simon 'y Bardd o Borth Myrddin'; 20-24, a further list of twenty Welsh poets or writers who had written about Wales and the island of Britain ('Enwau'r Prydyddion Awdurdodol . . . a ysgrifenasant am Wlad Gymru ac am Ynys Prydain') (see IM, t. 308); 136-7, a note by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' in 1801 on the attribution of works to ancient writers and poets such as Caradawc o Lancarfan, Taliesin, etc.; 138-57, another account of the quarrels between Iestin fab Gwrgan, lord of Glamorgan, and Rhys fab Tudur, prince of South Wales, and between the said Iestin and Einion ab Collwyn, the invitation to Sir Rhobert fab Hamon and the Norman knights to intervene, the consequent conquest of Glamorgan by the Normans, and the division of the country between Sir Rhobert and his twelve knights, with brief notes on the subsequent holders of the thirteen original divisions ('Hanes y Tri Marchog ar Ddeg a ddaethant i Forganwg yn Amser Iestin ab Gwrgan', allegedly transcribed from a volume in the possession of the Reverend Thos. Basset of Lann y Lai, co. Glamorgan); 158- 61, notes on variations in a second version of the account of the conquest of Glamorgan (pp. 138-57) to be found in the aforesaid Mr. Bassett's volume; 163-4, a list of Glamorgan bards with the places where they lived; 179 + 182, a brief chronicle of historical and pseudo-historical events in British history, 2nd - 5th century A.D.; 183, notes on an 'eisteddfod' held at Carmarthen in the time of Rhys ab Tewdur; 191-4, notes on Sir Robert Fitzhamon and his twelve knights and 'chronological notes from the Encyclopaedia Britanica'; 195-223, transcripts of three series of triads with the superscriptions 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain o'r Delyn Ledr ymha Lyfr yr oeddent wedi eu hysgrifennu o Lyfr Mr. Robert Vaughan o Hengwrt' (91), 'Trioedd y Meirch' (11), and 'Llyma ychwaneg o Drioedd Ynys Prydain allan o Lyfr Mr. Robert Vaughan o Hengwrt' (4); 224, an anecdote relating to Maelgwn Gwynedd; 225-31, transcripts of Welsh verse attributed to Lewys Môn, Taliesin, and Cattwg ddoeth; 231-3, lists of proverbial or wisdom sayings headed 'Llyma Gynghorion Cattwg ddoeth', 'Llymma Goreuau Cattwg Sant ab Gwynlliw', and 'Llymma Goreuau Meugant Bardd Cystenin Fendigaid'; 233-51, transcripts of series of triads with the superscriptions 'Llyma Drioedd a gant Iolo Morganwg', 'Trioedd Cattwg Sant', 'Llymma Drioedd a dalant eu hystyrio cyn gwreicca', 'Llymma Drioedd y Gwragedd priod', and 'Llyma Drioedd o hen Lyfr Lewys Hopcin'; 257-66, transcripts of Welsh poems and exemplary verse attributed to Mab claf i Lywarch, Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd, and Dafydd Nanmor; 271-5, an incomplete series of triads (5 + part of 6) with the superscription 'Llymma Drioedd Cof Cyfarwydd yn son am hynodion o wyr ac o betheu a fuant gynt yn Ynys Prydain . . .' (pp. 267-70, with p. 267 inscribed 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain o Lyfr Iaco ab Dewi gan Rys Thomas, Argraphydd, a fu gynt yn eiddo Twm Siôn Catti', were probably formerly the upper and lower covers of a home-made booklet intended to contain a version of the third series of 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain' of which the contents of pp. 271-5 are probably a fragmentary draft (see Rachel Bromwich: 'Trioedd Ynys Prydain' in Welsh Literature and Scholarship (Cardiff, 1969), p. 13)); 287-300, an alphabetical list of old Welsh words with modern equivalents; 303-09, brief notes headed 'Some account of the Welsh Bards'; 315-17, etymological and other miscellaneous notes; 318, transcripts of a short series of Welsh triads called 'Trioedd yr Addurneu' and of four 'englynion' attributed to [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg'; 319, a brief note relating to ? Nonconformist meetings associated with Blaen Gwrach [co. Glamorgan]; 327-34, a transcript of the poem 'Kad Goddeu' attributed to Taliesin; 335-8 notes relating to a Unitarian society called 'Gwyr Cwm y Felin' which allegedly flourished at Cwrn y Felin, co. Glamorgan, in the eighteenth century with a reference to Edward Williams's attitude to Unitarianism (see TLLM, tt. 215, 239, 314, and IM, t. 73); (continued)

339-47, notes relating to developments in Welsh metrics and literature to the late eighteenth century; 349-50, notes on the 'Cimmerii' or 'Cimbri', etc.; 351, a note on the connection between the freemasons and St. Alban; 352, a list of the princes of Glamorgan from the time of Aedd Mawr to the time of Iestin ap Gwrgan; 363-5, transcripts of two poems attributed to Morgan Talhai 'o Lansanffraid Fawr ym Morganwg'; 371-4, historical memoranda relating to Gower including an incomplete list of the lords of Gower from the time of Henry I onwards; 375-82, etymological and historical notes relating to the names and regions of Gwent / Essyllwg / Morganwg (mention of 'Ragland Castle Library, the best collection of old Welsh MSS. that ever existed'); 383-4, a note on the possible antiquity of the period of the formation of the Welsh language; 384-90, miscellaneous poetic and other extracts mainly Welsh, and lists of the names of the months in Armoric and Cornish; 393-4 a transcript of an eight-stanza English poem by Taliesin Williams 'written at the Lamb and Flag, Vale of Neath, 1816'; 401-03, a draft copy of an advertisement for the proposed publication of a Welsh quarterly magazine to be called 'Goleugrawn Deheubarth', the first issue to appear in June 1818; 407-11, extracts from [William] Coxe: [An Historical Tour in] Mon[mouth]shire . . . (London, 1801), part 11, appendix 1; 415-18, a copy of a tale relating to King Arthur and his knights sleeping in a cave full of treasure at Craig y Ddinas; 419-22, extracts from [P. H.] Mallet [: Northern Antiquities . . .] and the works of Caedmon; 423-30, notes headed 'Plan of the Analytical Dissertation on the Welsh Language by E[dward] W[illiams]'; 431-5, brief notes relating to the cultivation of literary languages and 'the mode of examining or investigating the principles on which any language has been formed'; 436, a brief list of the 'numerous names of God' in Welsh; 440 + 453, notes relating to ? earth tremors in the area between Cowbridge and the sea in July and August 1809; 445-8, notes headed 'Preface to History of the Bards - hints', with references to the work of [Edward] Jones ['Bardd y Brenin']; 455-7, extracts from [George] Lytte[l]ton : [The] History of [the Life of King] Henry the Second; 457-9, miscellaneous triads; 460-61, extracts from poems by Tudur Aled and G[uto'r] Glyn to abbots of Lanegwystl; 471-82, two sets of notes headed 'On Welsh Literature. Miscellaneous' and 'Cardigan and North Pembroke Dialects' containing general observations on the nature, etc., of Welsh literature and the Welsh language with references to classes held for learning to read Welsh; 482-6, notes on a reputed Welsh bard 'Keraint Vardd Glas otherwise Y Bardd Glas Keraint seemingly the Glaskerion of Chaucer'; 487-91, copies of two rhetorical prose exercises in the form of two love-letters in Welsh addressed by a member of the Powel family of Llwydiarth [co. Glamorgan] to a young lady; 491-500, a brief sketch in Welsh of the history of Morgannwg from the time of Morgan Mwynfawr to the time of the Tudors reputedly from a volume once in the possession of the Reverend Mr. Gamais (Gamage), vicar of St. Athan [co. Glamorgan], and then in the possession of Mr. John Spencer of the same parish; 501-05, transcripts of two letters reputedly exchanged between the sixteenth century poets Siôn Mowddwy and Meirig Dafydd concerning criticism by the latter of the former's verse, mention being made by Meirig Dafydd of the rival Welsh strict-metre systems of Dafydd Emwnt and the bards of Morgannwg (for references to manuscript and published versions of these letters see IMCY, t. 167, and TLLM, t. 86, n. 26-7, and for the opinion that Meirig Dafydd's reply was composed by Edward Williams himself see TLLM, t. 78, n. 6, and t. 86); 505, 'Llyma bump Tywysawglwyth Cymru'; 507- 12, an incomplete list of twenty four early kings of Britain recounting their feats and accomplishments ('Hanes Pedwar Brenin ar hugain a varnwyd yn henna ac yn wrola o'r Brutaniaid i Ddeiliaid ag i Gwncwerio'); 513-16, notes on the lineage of Iestyn ap Gwrgan ('Llyma wehelyth Iestyn ap Gwrgan un o bump Brenhinllwyth Cymru a Phen hynaif Tywysogion Ynys Prydain' reputedly 'o Lyfr Thomas Hopkin o Langrallo'); etc. In three instances notes have been written on the blank verso or margins of printed copies of the following - an abstract of a report on a meeting, May 1820, of the governors and friends of the medical charitable organisation known as the Welsh Dispensary (171-8), proposals for publishing Edward Williams's two volumes of English verse Poems Lyric and Pastoral in 1792 (180-81), and an advertisement for letting 'a desirable family residence' in Cardiff (184-5).

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'.