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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.

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).

Autobiography, apparently unpublished, of William Owen of Cardigan, 'The Birth, Life, Education and Transactions of Captn. William Owen the noted Smuggler ...', the original having been either written at Carmarthen gaol in 1747 by Owen himself whilst awaiting his execution for murder or dictated by him to the Reverend John Davies, prison chaplain, who has attested that he attended Owen during his confinement (f. 161). It contains an account of his personal life and of his smuggling exploits in the West Indies, in Ireland, and on the western coasts of Britain, with a transcript of his trial (pp. 119-60). The manuscript [watermark 1808] is apparently a copy in the hand of Daniel G. Matthias, whose name is inscribed inside the front cover with the date 12 January 1811. An account detailing expenditure on food and lodging, in a different hand, is found inside the back cover.

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.

A letter, 1917, in Welsh written by H. Iorwerth Hughes to his parents from Salonika, whilst serving in the First World War.

Reminiscences of the First World War by H. Iorwerth Hughes, Liverpool, written shortly after the events described, commencing with an account of his journey from Southampton to Macedonia, followed by a brief account of army life on the Macedonian front, 1917-1918, including details of the battle of Mount Dobropolje against the Bulgarians, September 1918, together with notes on his journey home, 1919. The volume also contains an incomplete draft, written c. 1919, of an address in Welsh entitled 'Experiences with the Serbs' (ff. 24-8). A letter, 1917, in Welsh written by H. Iorwerth Hughes to his parents from Salonika has been filed separately (MS 22151iiE).

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.

Souvenirs of the war of 1914-18, including Christmas and other cards from troops on active service, programmes of concerts given to the troops, particularly to Welsh units, a copy of a farewell address given on November 19, 1918, by Brigadier-General H. E. ap Rhys Pryce on relinquishing the command of the 113th Infantry Brigade, and cognate material collected by J. W. P. Parry, Aberystwyth.

Greek papyri from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, presented by the Egypt Exploration Society in 1922, being numbers 1521, 1572 and 1591 - dated respectively A.D. 113, A.D. 299, and 4th century - in Vol. XII of B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt: Oxyrhynchus Papyri (1916).

Letters and other papers, 1915-1916, relating to the Aberystwyth Weekly Comforts for Fighters Fund.

Journal of a tour in North Wales during the summer of 1772 by Miss Jinny Jenks of Enfield (who died aged 41 in 1778). This is one of the earliest examples of this type of literature.

Some reminiscences of Ellis Humphrey Evans ('Hedd Wyn') under training at the military camp at Litherland, Lancashire, by a friend and fellow-soldier, J. B. Thomas, Seven Sisters.

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.

The diary of soldier Thomas Davenport Twist (Tommy Twist), 1915, who served with the Welsh Regiment during the First World War until he was wounded, and documents relating to his military career and other papers. He was born and brought up in Lancashire, England, and moved to Ammanford. A brief typescript biography and transcriptions of his diary and documents have been included with the items.

Ten letters, 1918-19, from men serving with the armed forces in the First World War, expressing their gratitude for parcels sent by members of Bwlch Calvinistic Methodist church, Rhoslefain, co. Merioneth.

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.

Subscription account book of the Morriston War Fund, January-December [1915].

Subscription account book (surnames A-S) of the Morriston War Fund, January-July 1919.

Subscription account book of the Morriston War Fund, January-December 1917.

Notebook of the Committee for the Care of Wounded Welsh Soldiers in London Hospitals, containing lists, [?1915]-[?1918], of patients visited by representatives of various participating churches.