File NLW MS 6495C - Llawysgrif Christ Church 184 (copi): Rhan 1

The first part of a photostat facsimile, bound for convenience in two volumes (see also NLW MS 6496C), of Christ Church (Oxford) MS 184, a manuscript written in various hands of the 16th and 17th centuries. The original portion was written by William Cynwal (d. 1587/8), herald bard, who also inserted a note explaining how the manuscript came to be written. The major part of the volumes, written in Welsh, consists of cywyddau, awdlau and englynion, many of them in the autograph of the authors, and most of them written to various members of the Salusbury family of Llewenni and to Katherine of Berain (1534/5-1591). The English portion of the manuscripts includes autograph poems by Sir John Salusbury (1567-1612) and Robert Chester (fl. c. 1586-1604), and others. Also included in the manuscripts are the coats of arms of Katherine of Berain, resulting from her four marriages; a few Latin items, including elegies and epitaphs to Katherine of Berain; a rough index to the contents of the volumes compiled by John Jones (Tegid) (1792-1852), Christ Church, Oxford, in the 19th century.