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Morris, Lewis, 1701-1765 Bards and bardism -- Wales -- Glamorgan -- History -- To 1500
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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 and booklets or note-books containing notes, lists, transcripts, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents include, pagination in brackets, a list of one hundred and sixty-one items headed 'Welsh MSS. in the Possession of E[dward] Williams ['Iolo Morganwg']. Transcripts' (1-13); a list of thirty-one items headed 'Hen Ysgriflyfrau' being apparently manuscript volumes in the aforementioned Edward Williams’'s possession (15-16; many of these items can be identified amongst the Llanover manuscripts now being described); a list of titles of ? 'cywyddau' with numbers, poets' names, and page references headed 'MS. at Revd. Mr. Peter Williams', etc. (17-19); a list of the titles and / or first lines of forty-four 'cywyddau' and 'awdlau' under the name H[ywel ap] D[afydd ap] I[euan ap] Rhys and of two 'awdlau' under the name Gwilym Tew with page references, these corresponding to the pagination of transcripts of poems with the same titles or first lines by these poets (excepting one by Bedo Brwynllys to the said Hywel Dafydd) in Cwrt Mawr MS 12 in the National Library of Wales (20-24); a list of the titles of ? 'cywyddau' with the poets' names or initials and page references headed 'D[afydd] Dd[u] Eryn Broad Folio' (25-6); a list of the titles of 'cywyddau' and 'awdlau' headed 'Long vol. folio Piser Hir' with the poets' names or initials and page references the latter corresponding to the pagination of transcripts of poems with the same titles by the said poets in the manuscript known as Y Piser Hir now NLW Deposited MS 55 (27-30); a brief note referring to 'A Book with D.T. containing a large collection of Gronwy Owain's Letters . . .', etc. (31); extracts from poems attributed to R[hys] G[och] Eryri, Gruff. ap Daf. ap Einion Lygliw, L[ewis] G[lyn] Cothi, Iolo Goch, and B[edo] Brwynllys, (41-4); (41-4); a sequence of entries consisting of titles of Welsh poems, mainly 'cywyddau', with or without the name of the poet, first lines of, or extracts from, such poems, attributions only of poems, brief data re a poem or a poet, brief comments relating to a poem such as 'good, to be copied', 'to be copied, important', often without the name of the poem or poet, etc., these entries being accompanied by page references and these obviously referring to the pagination of the Welsh Charity School MS which is now British Museum Add. MS 14866 (44-58); further extracts from, or references to, items in ? the Welsh Charity School MSS now in the British Museum including transcripts of 'englynion' attributed to Wm. Cynwal, D. ab Edmund, and Tywysog Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (58-60, 69); a brief note relating to court officials in [medieval] Gwynedd, Pywys, and Deheubarth (71); an incomplete note re a linear measure called 'Mesur Llath Fleddyn' (72); a survey of Welsh bardism from the time of the Emperor Arthur to the seventeenth century attributed to Edward Dafydd referring to, inter alia, the measures taken by the Emperor Arthur to restore the bardic system, the 'eisteddfodau' of Gruffudd ab Cynan, the 'eisteddfod' at Caerfyrddin in 1452 and the twenty- four strict-metre system adopted there, 'eisteddfodau' held at Yr Adur and Aberpergwm in the time of Iorwerth Fynglwyd and at Abertawy in the time of Lewys Morganwg, a volume on the allegedly truly traditional poetic metres compiled by Lewys Morganwg and volumes by Meuryg Dafydd and Dafydd Benwyn on the same theme, an 'eisteddfod' at 'Castell Caer Dydd' convened by Sir William Herbert where Llywelyn Siôn was chief adjudicator, the condemning of the Carmarthen system of strict metres and the authorising of an alternate, truer system [the Glamorgan system] at this 'eisteddfod', a volume by Llywelyn Siôn containing an account of this system, and the writer [i.e. Edward Dafydd]'s intention of publishing this account and other bardic material in a printed volume (73-82; see the foreword in Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain attributed to the said Edward Dafydd, and for a comment on the whole matter see TLLM, t. 91); (continued)

Notes on Welsh poetic metres headed 'Llyma son am y mesurau Cerdd Dafawd ag fal au gwellhawyd o amser i amser ag o beth i beth ag o farn i farn' (82-8); an incomplete ? draft of an undated letter from . . . to . . . containing observations on a book (? in two parts or volumes entitled 'Oes Ymbwyll' and 'Oes y Pwyll') by recipient concerning revealed religion (89-104); a list of words, phrases, etc., headed 'Allusions to Coelbren y Beirdd in D.G. and to other arts and sciences' with page references to the said allusions [these, by inference, being extracted from the collection of Dafydd ap Gwilym's poems published by Owen Jones and William Owen in 1789 under the title Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym] (105-07); miscellaneous notes relating to bardic matters such as the nature or attributes of 'cerdd gadair', 'cerdd arwest', 'cerdd dant', 'arwyddfardd', and 'cerdd deuluaidd' (113-25); notes relating to the contribution of Talhaiarn Fardd, Ystudfach Fardd, Ceraint Fardd Glas, Taliesin Ben Beirdd, Rhys Goch ap Rhiccart, Casnodyn Fardd, Dafydd ap Gwilym, Ieuan fawr ap y diwlith, and Llesoed Fardd to the Welsh metric system (126-17); copies of memorial inscriptions including seventeenth century inscriptions relating to members of the Powell family in the churchyard at Llangynwyd [co. Glamorgan] (128); brief notes referring to the expressions 'Hu ynys' and 'Gwyr Hu', and to Hu Gadarn and early mythological bards of Britain (133); notes relating to 'cynghanedd unodl', 'cynghanedd gytsain', and 'corfannau' (138-9); transcripts of 'englynion' attributed to Rhisiart Iorwerth, Rhys Meigen, and Wm. Llyn (140 ); a brief note relating to a poetic metre known as 'toddaid Taliesin' with transcripts of two Latin stanzas in 'englyn' form attributed to D.N. and ? Samuel Jones 'o Fryn Llywarch' (141-2); notes relating to the decline of knowledge concerning the old Welsh bardic order in Gwynedd in the late middle ages, literary patronage in Morgannwg during the post Norman conquest period, poetic composition ? in relation to the 'pedair ansawdd ar hugain Cadair Morganwg', and 'Y Bardd Glas Ceraint' (143-7); an extract from a 'cywydd' attributed to Rhys Goch Eryri, a note on the words 'clws' and 'tlws' and the use of the first for the second with a transcript of an 'englyn' attributed to Hugh Jones 'o Langwm' to illustrate this usage, and three Welsh triads (148-51); lists or groups of Welsh words sometimes with English definitions and / or illustrative excerpts from Welsh verse (152-3, 155, 164, 172-3, 200, 203, 210, 335, 337, 341, 343-6, 348, 350, 353-4 356, 360); a number of 'Quotations in exemplifications of the sense or meaning of [specific Welsh] words' (165, 168-9); a list of eleven questions, ?forming a questionnaire, relating to the Welsh language, its major dialects, local words and idioms, the possible possession of ? old Welsh manuscripts ('hen ysgrifeniadau') by the person questioned or acquaintances, etc. (174-5); brief notes relating to Siôn Rhydderch and Lewis Morris (179); transcripts of stanzas of Welsh verse attributed to Gwalchmai and Elidir Sais (189-92); notes headed 'Silurian Contractions' (197); a group of Welsh words illustrating the use of de- in Sil[urian] where dy- would be used in N[orth] W[ales] as the first syllable (198); a note on the two sounds of the symbol Y in the Welsh alphabet (199); a list of kings of the British, 481-683, and of Plantagenet and Yorkist kings of England, 1307-1483 (201); notes deriving the Latin word bellum from a Celtic word bel signifying war and referring to the cognate element -fel in Welsh words (204 + 209); a list of the kings of England, 1272-1558 (212 ); an incomplete author index to Sion Rhydderch's edition of [Thomas Jones :] Llyfr Carolau [a Dyriau Duwiol], 1745 (249); brief notes, sometimes merely dates, relating to Rowland Vaughan 'o Gaer Gai', Richard Huws, Wmffre Dafydd ab Ifan, Syr Lewys ab Hugh 'o Fochnant', Edmund Prys, Huw Morys, and Rhys Pritchard (250-5I); an extract from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1809, relating to the Mears family (253-4); (continued)

Comments reflecting the writer's attitude towards the ? introduction of an artificial regularity into the Welsh language (257-9); a very brief note on Ty Newydd, Y Fotffordd [Watford, co. Glamorgan], [Nonconformist] meeting house, and an anecdote relating to Sir Wm. Lewys of Gilfach fargod and ? a conventicle being held in the parish of Gelli Gaer [co. Glamorgan], temp. Charles II or James II (274); dates of the deaths of David Jenkins of Hensol [co. Glamorgan], judge, and his son and grandson (278); miscellaneous extracts from, or references to, various printed works (279- 81); data relating to the Kemis family of Cefn Mabli, Llanblethian, and Newport [cos. Glamorgan and Monmouth] (291, 293-4, 298); notes headed 'Peculiarities of the Dimetian Dialect' (301-03); a brief note relating to incursions into the Isle of Man and Anglesey, A.D. 431, transcripts of stanzas of Welsh verse attributed to R[hys] Goch ab Rhiccert and Taliesin, copies of two versions of an 'englyn' by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg', two Welsh triads, a list of six 'Books at Wm. Morris, 1783', a list of four 'Reasons for supposing that the South Wales Poets imitated the Troubadours', etc. (317-21); a list of twenty-four topics or subject or chapter headings with the superscription 'Hints for a Tour in Wales' (322 + 327); data relating to Thomas ap Evan ap Rhys, 16th cent. poet (324-5, 323 ); a transcript of six stanzas of Welsh religious verse (328); a list of Welsh proverbial expressions, etc. (331, 358); a list of Welsh expressions incorporating the name of God headed 'Traces of Ancient Welsh Piety' (333); and a four-line stanza of Welsh verse by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg' (359). Pp. 213-48, which formerly formed a separate booklet, contain miscellaneous notes, extracts, memoranda, etc., including extracts from Welsh poems attributed to Robin Ddu, Cynddelw, Pryd[ydd] y Moch, Hywel ap Iolyn, W[illia]m Cynwal, Ed[mwnd] Prys, Daf. Goch, Inco Brydydd, Rhys Nanmor, Math. ap Lln. Goch, Ieuan Du'r Bilwg, Gruff. ab Mared., Siôn Ceri, L[ewis] G[lyn] Cothi, Lln. Fardd, Iolo Goch, Gruff. Grug, and R[hys] G[och] Eryri; comments on the need for a better grammar of the Welsh language which, inter alia, would pay attention to 'dialectical peculiarities'; a list of seven topics or subject or chapter headings for 'Historical Dissertations on the Ancient British Bards and Druids, etc.'; chronological computations concerning the possibility of a certain Dafydd Jones, a native of Cardigan, having seen, circa 1530 or 1540, an elderly woman who remembered another elderly woman who had seen D[afydd] ab Gwilym; groups of, or notes on, Welsh words; etc. Notes in two instances have been written on the verso and margins of a printed circular announcing the printing of Edward Williams's two volumes of English poems entitled Poems Lyric and Pastoral (202 + 211) and of a printed copy of the resolutions of a meeting of gentlemen and woolgrowers of the county of Glamorgan held at Cowbridge, 16 April 1806, when it was resolved to establish a wool fair for the said county to be held at Cowbridge in July (unnumbered pages between p. 317 and p. 318 and p.319 and p. 320).