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David Jones letters to Tom Burns

  • NLW MS 21797E.
  • File
  • 1940-1971

Twenty-three letters, 1940-1971, from David Jones, artist and writer, to his friend T. F. (Tom) Burns, nineteen of which date from the period 1940-1944 and form a valuable source for the life and work of the writer during the war years. The principal subjects discussed in the others are the history of Wales, the early history of the compass, Malory's Morte Arthur and the writer's experiences in the First World War. Twelve of these letters were printed, wholly or in part, by René Hague in Dai Greatcoat: A self-portrait of David Jones in his Letters (London, 1980).

Jones, David, 1895-1974

Soldier's diary

  • NLW MS 22820E.
  • File
  • [mid 20 cent.]

A transcript, [mid 20 cent.], of the diary, 26 July 1914-22 April 1916, of a soldier from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, serving with the Royal Engineers in the First World War, including a record of his experiences on active service in the Dardanelles.
On the basis of information supplied by Mr Gwyn Jenkins, Talybont, January 2012, the writer of the diary has been identified as Hubert Cole, a Sapper with the 1st Welsh Field Company Royal Engineers. He married Kate Eveline Webb at St Luke's Bayswater on 1 November 1914.

Cole, Hubert, 1889-

Prisoner of war camp magazines

  • NLW MS 22424F.
  • File
  • 1944-1945

Seven issues, May-December 1944, of a magazine entitled Cymro (issues 2, 3 (unfinished), a special Christmas edition and four Supplement editions), produced by members of the Cymric Club in Stalag IVB prisoner of war camp near Muhlberg, Germany, featuring articles on Welsh sport, Welsh legends and Welsh regiments, and reports on sporting events held in the camp; together with the only two issues, January 1945, of 20 Bees Buzz, a weekly newspaper produced by the inmates of Hut 20B, containing mainly camp news, especially sport and social events.

Royal Welsh Fusiliers

  • NLW MS 10436E.
  • File
  • 1915-1918

The War diary, 1 December 1915-30 January 1918, of the 15th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

First World War diary

  • NLW MS 23059A.
  • File
  • 1916-1917

The diary, 1916-1917, of Edmund Davies, Dyffryn Ardudwy, Merionethshire, containing an account of his service with the 17th Royal Welch Fusiliers during the First World War.
The diary, which begins in April 1916, records postings in France including action in the trenches and ends in February 1917 when the diarist was injured at the Ypres Salient in Belgium. Papers connected with the diary have been filed separately (NLW MS 23060C).

Davies, Edmund, 1891-1979

Diary of a nurse

  • NLW MS 22152A.
  • File
  • 1915-1916

Diary, 1915-1916, of Ethel Dora Heins (1886-1933) of Brecon, recording her service as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in Alexandria.
A photograph of Heins is on f. 26.

Heins, Ethel Dora, 1886-1933

David Lloyd George notebook

  • NLW MS 24179A.
  • File
  • [1910]

A notebook, [1910], belonging to David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, containing rough notes in pencil for speeches given by him in late November and early December, on the campaign trail for the December 1910 General Election (ff. 1-41, 94 verso).
The volume contains material which can be found in Lloyd George's speeches in Edinburgh, 26 November (ff. 1 verso, 3-4 verso, 6-7, 8 recto-verso), Cardiff, 29 November (ff. 9 verso, 11 verso-13, 14, 15 verso-16), Ipswich, 2 December (ff. 18, 22, 23 verso), Glasgow, 5 December (f. 31 recto-verso), North Wales, 7-9 December (f. 36 recto-verso), and East Ham, 15 December (f. 39, 40 verso). Lloyd George also critiques at length Lord Rosebery's speeches of 30 November and 3 December 1910 (ff. 16 verso-33 passim). The notes relate mainly to the Parliament Bill to reform the House of Lords (passed as the Parliament Act 1911), the issue on which the election was called, but also tariff reform, Home Rule, land tax, etc. The volume is entirely in English except for two sentences in Welsh (ff. 30 verso, 35 verso).

Lloyd George, David, 1863-1945

Edward Thomas letters to O. M. Edwards

  • NLW MS 23222B.
  • File
  • 1900-1902

Twelve letters, 1900-1902, from Edward Thomas to Sir Owen M. Edwards, his erstwhile tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford, written shortly after Thomas had left university, their main purpose being to ask for guidance in seeking employment; they also reflect his attachment to Wales and his interest in the Welsh language.

Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917

Barddoniaeth

  • NLW MS 23692A.
  • File
  • 1826-1876

A volume containing Welsh poetry in free and strict metres, in the hand of David Evans (Dewi Dysul), Llandysul, Cardiganshire (see W. J. Davies, Hanes Plwyf Llandyssul (Llandysul, 1896, repr. 1992), pp. 253-5), mostly written by himself and relating to local events and personalities. Also included are diary entries, 1839-1872, relating to the weather and agricultural memoranda (ff. 70-81verso, inverted text).
The volume contains a Welsh carol, 1828 (ff. 1-2), Welsh poems sent as Valentines, 1850-1851 (ff. 13, 15, 33), a poem in praise of Llanover Hall, [1860s] (f. 52 verso), a poem in praise of John Hopkins (Ioan Glan Tees), 1863 (ff. 53 recto-verso), a Welsh metrical version of Mother Shipton's Prophecy, 1873 (f. 59), a poem on the death of the son of David Davies (Glan Cunllo), 1867 (f. 55 verso), and a chart of early-nineteenth century Welsh poets compiled by John William Thomas (Arfonwyson), [c. 1840] (f. 74 verso).

Evans, David, Dewi Dysul.

Llythyrau o ryfel cartref yr America

  • NLW MS 22421D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
  • File
  • 1860-1872

Over eighty letters in Welsh, 1862-1864, from Corporal John Griffith Jones (1843-1864; born at Penisa'r-waun, Caernarvonshire), 23rd Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers, to his family in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, relating his experiences as a soldier with the Union Army during the American Civil War (see Y Casglwr, 33 (1987), 13 and Y Cyfaill o'r Hen Wlad, 28 (1865), 27). Also included are five letters, 1862-1872, from his fellow soldiers to his family; two letters, 1863-1864, to him from his mother, Mary Jones, and his grandfather John Jones, Llanrug, Caernarvonshire; and two letters, 1860-1865, from his grandfather to his father Richard M. Jones. A photograph of Corporal Jones in uniform, purchased with the letters, has been transferred to the Department of Pictures and Maps and a reproduction placed with the letters.

Jones, John Griffith, Corporal, 1843-1864

Soldier's autobiography

  • NLW MS 22102A.
  • File
  • [c. 1837]

A brief autobiography of Private Thomas Jeremiah of the 23rd Regiment of Royal Welch Fusiliers, possibly written soon after his discharge from the army in 1837 (see f. 74). The volume contains an account of his youth in the parish of Goetre, Monmouthshire, 1797-1812 (ff. 1 verso-8), of his life in the army in England and Belgium, 1812-1815 (ff. 8 verso-27 verso), of marching and foraging for victuals previous to the battle of Waterloo (ff. 27 verso-56) and a detailed account of the battle itself (ff. 56-73 verso).

Jeremiah, Thomas, Private.

Memoirs of Thomas Jones, Pencerrig

  • NLW MS 23812D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
  • File
  • 1798-1803

Memoirs and journal, compiled 1798, of the artist Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, recounting in detail his life in London, France and especially Italy during the second half of the eighteenth century.
The volume briefly recounts Jones's ancestry and early years, becoming more detailed from the 1760s, with the last detailed entry being for December 1783 (f. 218 verso); the bulk of these later entries are extracts from Jones's own journals. The final entry was signed by the artist at Pencerrig, November 1798 (f. 220 verso). The main text, including some later deletions, is written on the versos only; notes and emendations, [1798x1803], have been added by Jones on the rectos and the volume has been signed and dated 1803 by him inside the front cover. Family memoranda, in a different hand, have been added after Jones's death (ff. 225 verso). Friends and acquaintances referred to include the artists William Pars (ff. 15 verso-177 passim), Richard Wilson (ff. 17 verso-20 verso, 35 verso, 56 verso, 85, 90 verso-91, 219 verso), John Hamilton Mortimer (21 verso, 27 verso-48 verso passim, 59 verso, 64 verso, 136 verso, 217 verso), Guiseppe Marchi (ff. 27 verso, 36 verso), Thomas Hardwick (ff. 66 verso-70 verso, 90 verso-100 verso, 115 verso, 130 verso) and Anton Raphael Mengs (ff. 101 verso, 130 verso, 148 verso, 161 verso), the composer Stephen Storace (ff. 117 verso-121, 146 verso), and the art collector Sir William Hamilton (ff. 127 verso-188 verso passim, 215 verso, 219 verso). A sketch of Mount Vesuvius is on f. 118; a plan of his lodgings in Naples is on f. 142. For a complete transcript (with index) see 'Memoirs of Thomas Jones, Penkerrig, Radnorshire', The Walpole Society, 32 (1951), 1-162; this transcript is also available on the Library's website.

Jones, Thomas, 1742-1803.

Diary, etc., of John Davies, Ystrad

  • NLW MS 12350A.
  • File
  • 1796-1799

A diary and commonplace book of John Davies (David) ('Siôn Dafydd y Crydd'), bookbinder and cobbler, of Llanfihangel Ystrad, co. Cardigan. The diary covers the period from 1 January 1796 to 19 December 1799 (new style) and refers mainly to 'booking ', e.g., the binding of local Church Bibles, the making of a letter case for William Lewes, Llysnewydd, the purchase of pasteboard and glue, etc. Other entries consist of copious observations on the weather and on the health of the writer and of members of his family; records of other activities of the scribe and of his wife, such as the making up of club accounts and attendance at club feasts, the making up of churchwardens' and vestry accounts, the writing of documents (leases, wills, marriage settlements, letters, bidding letters, and club articles), estreating, attendance at religious services, the death and burial of local residents, visits to fairs, gardening, the raising of turf, the making of candles, watch repairing, the spinning of flax and hemp, grinding at the mill, etc.); and references to unusual or interesting contemporary incidents, e.g., the beginning of Bedlwyn bridge, 9 August 1796, 'great noise about the French landing in Pembrokshire', 1 March 1797, 'great alarm about mad dogs ', 17 March 1797, the eclipse of the sun, 24 June 1797, '2000 Irish emigrants in Pembrokshire', 15 June 1798, 'Terrible Rebellion in Ireland', 18 June 1798, '. . . the Buck wheat plowed with a new plow English fashion with foure Horses', 31 August 1798, etc. In the left hand margin of each page are two columns indicating each date in both the new and the old styles. The remainder of the volume contains miscellaneous poetry, including stanzas and 'englynion' by D. Davies, lines 'On Czar Peter of Russia', 1797, stanzas beginning 'God save the Rights of Man', 1795, 'Englynion I Lys Ifor Hael . . .' by Evan Evans ('Bardd ac Offeiriad'), 1779, with an English translation, 'Can, yr hon a genir gan filwyr Ffraingc wrth fyned it frwydr', 1797, stanzas entitled 'God Save the King' (beginning 'Fame let thy Trumpet sound') (extracted 5 January 1763 from The Gentleman's Magazine, December 1745), stanzas extracted in 1772 from William Lithgow's 'Book of . . . Travels', 'cywydd' couplets by Edmund Prys and Hug[h] Arwystl, stanzas entitled 'The Brittish Muse, The Banks of the Wye' (from the Hereford Journal, 18 June 1778), stanzas entitled 'Tweed's Side' (from The Gentleman's Magazine, May 1767), 'Chwanegiad at gân Rhydddid' (in a later hand), 'Can o Sen I Ficcar Coch Cayo' by Dafydd Manuel, 'General Thanksgiving. The following lines were found in St. Peters Church Yard in Colchester on Tuesday the 19 of Decr. 1797 being the Day appointed for a general thanksgiving . . .', 'On the Day of general thanksgiving on the 29th Day of November 1798 were the following lines stuck up on . . . the Church Door of Ystrad Church', 'An Epitaph on a Blacksmith', 'Lines written out of Temper, on a Pannel in one of the Pews of C . . .m Church' (from the Hereford Journal, 26 October 1791), 'Littani' by 'J[ohn] J[ones] Glangors', 1797, etc.; the score of a song entitled 'The Recess', 1794, and of 'A Gavot' by Correlli; a list of floruits of 'Brittish Poets' (from Myrddyn Emrys to Dafydd William o'r Nant); 'Coppi o Lythur Gruffudd ap Ieuan at Saer Pren o Lan Sain Sion Allan o Almanac am y Flwyddyn 1720'; notes on Nonconformist Sects, extracted from W[illiam] Mather: The Young Man's Companion (London, 1737); a pedigree of King George III; the Greek alphabet; recipes for sealing wafers and sealing wax; a table of cities, towns, and villages from Lampeter to London; memoranda of local births and deaths, e.g., the death of the Reverend David Lloyd, Castle Howel, 1779, and of the Reverend Richard Lloyd, Llwynrhydowen, 1797; the allocation of seats and pews newly erected in the body of the church of Ystrad, 1716; etc.

Davies, John, 1722-1799

Day book of Thomas Jones, Pencerrig

  • NLW MS 23811E [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
  • File
  • 1758-1797

Day book, 1788-1797, of the artist Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, relating to the Pencerrig estate in the parish of Llanelwedd, Radnorshire, recording details of payments received for rents, tithes and farm produce, and of payments made to servants and craftsmen, together with particulars of land tax payments and poor rates (ff. 17 verso-94).
Also included, in a different hand, are a barrister's accounts, 1758-1761, detailing the charges made for services rendered to individuals in London and Wales (ff. 1-17). Memoranda relating to tree planting are on ff. 63 verso, 65 verso and 84 verso; details of payments made to the artist Guiseppe Marchi are on f. 24. Extracts from the volume were published in R. C. B. Oliver, The Family History of Thomas Jones the Artist, of Pencerrig, Radnorshire (2nd ed., Llandrindod Wells, 1987).

Jones, Thomas, 1742-1803.

Llyfr Melyn Tyfrydog

  • NLW MS 23969F.
  • File
  • 1763-1769

Cyfrol o achau, cerddi a nodion hynafiaethol, dyddiedig 1766 (ond a luniwyd tua 1763-1769), yn llaw Hugh Hughes (Y Bardd Coch o Fôn), ac sy'n dwyn y teitl 'Llyfr Melyn Tyfrydog [ne]u'r Gell Gymmysg' (t. xxv). Canolbwyntia rhan gyntaf y gyfrol ar achau disgynyddion Pymtheg Llwyth Gwynedd, y mwyafrif yn deuluoedd o Fôn (tt. 1-91; rhestrir y teuluoedd ar tt. xxvii-xxix). Ychwanegwyd arfbais liwiedig teulu Llwydiarth Esgob i gyd-fynd ag ach Hugh Hughes ei hunan ar t. 40. = A volume of pedigrees, poems and antiquarian notes, dated 1766 (but compiled around 1763-1769), in the hand of Hugh Hughes (Y Bardd Coch o Fôn), and entitled 'Llyfr Melyn Tyfrydog [ne]u'r Gell Gymmysg' (p. xxv). Pedigrees of the descendants of the Fifteen Tribes of North Wales, mostly Anglesey families, fill the first part of the volume (pp. 1-91; the families are listed on pp. xxvii-xxix). The coloured arms of the family of Llwydiarth Esgob are appended to the pedigree of Hugh Hughes himself (p. 40).
Cynhwysa'r gyfrol hefyd nodiadau hynafiaethol (t. 97 passim), trioedd a chynghorion (tt. 107-110, 116-119), ynghyd â nifer helaeth o gerddi Cymraeg (t. xiii passim), rhai wedi eu copïo o 'Delyn Ledr' William Morris, Caergybi (bellach BL Add. MS 14873) (tt. xvi, 119), ac eraill o gyfrol Evan Evans, Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards (London, 1764) (t. 182). Ymysg cerddi cyfoes y llawysgrif, ceir rhai gan David Ellis (t. 282), Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) (t. 269), Hugh Hughes (tt. 260, 272, 275), Robert Hughes (Robin Ddu yr Ail o Fôn) (t. 235), a Goronwy Owen (t. 263). Diweddarwyd rhai o nodiadau hynafiaethol y gyfrol mewn dwylo diweddarach, hyd oddeutu 1858 (t. 50). Am restr o gynnwys y gyfrol, yn llaw Hugh Hughes, gweler t. xvii. = The volume also contains antiquarian notes (p. 97 passim), triads and wisdom (pp. 107-110, 116-119), together with a great number of Welsh poems (p. xiii passim), some copied from the 'Telyn Ledr' of William Morris of Holyhead (now BL Add. MS 14873) (pp. xvi, 119), and others from Evan Evans' Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards (London, 1764) (p. 182). Amongst contemporary poems in the manuscript are compositions by David Ellis (p. 282), Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) (p. 269), Hugh Hughes (pp. 260, 272, 275), Robert Hughes (Robin Ddu yr Ail o Fôn) (p. 235), and Goronwy Owen (p. 263). Antiquarian notes of a later period were added to the manuscript, until c. 1858 (p. 50). For a list of the volume's contents, in the hand of Hugh Hughes, see p. xvii.

Hughes, Hugh, 1693-1776

Lewis Morris' De Historia Piscium

  • NLW MS 24052E.
  • File
  • 1740-[1747]

The second edition (or reissue), [1740], of Francis Willughby's De Historia Piscium Libri Quatuor (Oxford, 1686) [ESTC N51867, where it is dated c. 1743]. The work is made up of the De Historia Piscium Libri Quatuor (ff. 2-177), together with 'Appendix ad historiam naturalem piscium' (London, 1740) (ff. 178-205) and a sequence of some 187 engraved plates from the first edition (on the rectos of ff. 206-392). The plates have been extensively annotated (with English and Welsh names, and eyewitness accounts), and sometimes further illustrated (on ff. 215, 224, 244, 248, 281 verso, 283, 295, 341 verso, 347), by Welsh polymath Lewis Morris.
Morris' marginal notes glossing the printed text appear on ff. 4 recto-verso, 85, 88 verso-90, 92, 97-104 verso, 115 verso-116, 118, 137, 146, 165 recto-verso, 175 verso-176, 178, 188 verso-189, 191, 192, 194 verso-195 verso, 197, 198 verso-199, 200, 202-204; his Welsh translations of fish names on ff. 16 verso-18; and extensive notes on fish on ff. 206-391 passim. These last set of notes reflect Morris' retrospective interest in fish seen on the coast of Anglesey (ff. 189, 213, 215, 227, 240, 242, 250, 251 verso, 280 verso, 281 verso, 283, 284, 285, 286, 341 verso, 347) and elsewhere (ff. 224, 248, 295 verso) before his departure to Cardiganshire in 1742. Further accounts of fish seen in Cardigan Bay are on ff. 241, 243 verso, 295 (dated 1747) and 311 (dated 1745). It is possible that these notes form the basis of Lewis Morris' projected, but unpublished, Natural History of Anglesey (see Dafydd Wyn Wiliam, Lewis Morris: Deugain Mlynedd Cyntaf ei Oes 1700/1-42 ([Bodedern], 1997), p. 150). See also Maredudd ap Huw, 'Pysgod Lewis Morris', Tlysau'r Hen Oesoedd, 37 (Ebrill 2015), 3-10.

Morris, Lewis, 1701-1765.

Llawysgrif Hendregadredd

  • NLW MS 6680B [RESTRICTED ACCESS]
  • File
  • [14-15 cents]

The Hendregadredd manuscript, containing poems by the Gogynfeirdd bards, etc.
The contents of the manuscript were published by the University of Wales Press Board in 1933 under the title of Llawysgrif Hendregadredd.

Horae

  • NLW MS 15537C [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
  • File
  • [mid-15 cent.]

The 'De Grey' Book of Hours, [mid-15 cent.].

The Merthyr Fragment

  • NLW MS 21972D [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
  • File
  • [15 cent., first ¼]

Three surviving folia of a lost manuscript in Middle English, written by a professional scribe during the first quarter of the fifteenth century, containing parts of the ‘Nun’s Priest’s Link' and 'Nun's Priest's Tale’ from Geoffrey Chaucer’s 'Canterbury Tales'. Textual contents: f. l recto, VII2784-2820 (B2, 3974-4010) and 'Here endeth the p(ro)loge and bygynneth the tale'; f. 1 verso, VII2822-2860 (B2, 4012-4050); f. 2 recto, VII3021-3058 (B2, 4211-4248); f. 2 verso, VII3060-3098 (B2, 4250-4288); f. 3 recto, VII3184-3222 (B2, 4374-4412); f. 3 verso, VII3223-3262 (B2, 4413-4452).
The folia were formerly tipped in at the back of a copy of Dr John Davies’s Antiquae Linguae Britannicae Dictionarium Duplex (1632). Linne R. Mooney has suggested that the Merthyr Fragment may be in the hand of Adam Pinkhurst; see Alexandra Gillespie and Daniel Wakelin (eds.), The Production of Books in England 1350-1500 (Cambridge, 2011), p. 199n.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400

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