File Peniarth MS 155 [RESTRICTED ACCESS]. - Llyfr Richard Phylip o Picton,

First use, in [mid-16 cent.] by a university man and divine. The surviving evidence is the list of contents, in Latin, of [pages or folios] 1 to 19 (these leaves do not survive); the ‘note of the proctor Sey his book’ on f. v [William Say, died 1468] relates to university regulations; the letters A–Y (inverted) at the foot of pp. 24-112 were probably intended for a commonplace-book that was never begun. The watermark could be Briquet 11387 (dated 1544).
Thereafter, the near-empty book was used successively by three scribes. Firstly, on pp. 2-169, a scribal copy (the earliest text surviving) made for ‘R P’ [Richard Phylip] of Picton (p. 11) of Lloegr Drigiant Ddifyrrwch Brytanaidd Gymro, the compilation of proverbs and anthology of Welsh literature compiled by Gruffudd Hiraethog for Richard Mostyn. On the contents, see RMWL; on its text, see D.J. Bowen (ed.), Gwaith Gruffudd Hiraethog (Caerdydd, 1990), pp. xcviii–cxi. The dates 1561 (p. 2) and 1562 (p. 169) probably represent the dates of writing, rather than those of the exemplar [but cf. Llên Cymru, 16 (1989–91), 385-7]. Gruffudd Hiraethog’s preface is printed in T.H. Parry-Williams and Thomas Jones (eds.), Rhyddiaith Gymraeg, 2 vols (Caerdydd, 1954, 1956), I, 60-1; Y Naw Helwriaeth in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 6 (1931-3), 301-12 [cf. ibid., 31 (1984), 119-32]; Pedwar Mesur ar Hugain Cerdd Dant in BBCS, 1 (1921-3), 151-3; Y Lapidari in Celtica, 2 (1954), 96-116; three areithiau in D. Gwenallt Jones (ed.), Yr Areithiau Pros (Caerdydd, 1934), pp. 43-9 and 61 and Rhyddiaith Gymraeg, I, 62-4. On the texts from this compilation that were printed by William Salesbury, see Journal of the Welsh Bibliographical Society, 7, no.3 (1952), 125-43.
The second scribe, identified by Daniel Huws as X51 (see his Repertory, vol. II), added cognate texts on pp. 170-220, including ‘Dosbarth Kerdd Dafod’ (pp. 176-95), ‘Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain’ (pp. 196-211) and cywyddau.
The third scribe, Nicholas Robinson [died 1585], added pedigrees of Anglesey families, leaving many pages blank (pp. 225-301). Both he and the second scribe link the manuscript to the diocese of Bangor.