Miscellanea,

Miscellaneous papers and note-books containing notes, extracts, transcripts, lists, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. The contents of pp. 53-60, 73, 75, 86-9, 91, 143-206, 209-17, 233-8, and 279-90 consist mainly of lists or groups of Welsh words and phrases sometimes with English definitions and/or illustrative excerpts from the works of Welsh poets. Some of these lists or groups contain words extracted from one source such as poems by, or attributed to, Taliesin, or to be found in 'The Book of Taliesin', John Bunyan: Taith y Pererin, William Wotton: Cyfreithieu Hywel Dda . . . (London, 1730), etc. P. 13 is inscribed 'Glynn Papers 1821. Customs of the Manor of the Lordship of Coity Wallia. From a Copy in the Hand Writing of Richard Jenkins, Esqr., of Hensol Castle, Glamorgan, 1714', and is followed (pp. 17-27) by an incomplete copy of the presentments of a jury of survey for the lordship and manor of Coyty Wallia aforesaid [co. Glamorgan], 1631 [/2]. Other items in the volume include pp. 33-6, anecdotes relating to the brothers Richard and William Twrch and the building of the chapel (1586) and the porch (1600) at Bewper [ co. Glamorgan], with references to Inigo Jones (see also NLW MS. 13089E above); 37-41, a copy of Sir Walter Scott's 'Hymn to Christopher North, Esqr.' transcribed from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, April 1821; 45-9, notes relating to the ruins of a ?Roman 'glass and pottery manufactory' near Caer Rhun [co. Caernarvon], and to nature in the languages and literatures of Wales and England; 69-71, a transcript of the answers to a questionnaire relating to the parish of Llantrithyd [co. Glamorgan]; 72, stanzas of ?two Welsh hymns; 83-4, notes on differences in the use of the verb in the Welsh of North and South Wales; 107-10, notes relating to the Welsh bardic tradition, more particularly the use of triads by the bards, with examples of such bardic triads and English translations; 112, a list of the persons (?commissioners) in whose presence the 'eisteddfod' was held at Caerwys [co. Flint] in 1565 (sic) and of the bards and musicians who were licensed at the said 'eisteddfod'; 113-34, ?extracts from [Paul Henri] Mallet: Northern Antiquities . . . [? the translation from the French by Thomas Percy, London, 1770] and [Joseph] Ritson: A Select Collection of English Songs (1783); 135-41, draft proposals for publishing a multi-volume work containing essays on aspects of Welsh literature, history, bardism, etc., with transcripts of, or extracts from, original Welsh documents and manuscripts relating thereto and English translations of the original source material (see Prospectus of Collections for a New History of Wales in Six Volumes . . . by Edward Williams (Carmarthen, 1819 )); 142, a note on the aims of 'Cymreigyddion Deheubarth, a Corresponding Literary (Philological) Society of South] W[ales]' and a list of six rules headed 'Unitarian Discipline and Polity'; 207-08, a list of Latin words, mainly common nouns, commencing with the letter v with English definitions and, occasionally, Welsh ? derivatives; 221, suggestions by E[dward] Williams re the cultivation of vineyards in Britain; 225-32, miscellaneous horticultural notes ('A New Method of propagating trees', 'A new . . . method of raising Cowcumbers', 'To ripen Grapes'), etc., extracted mainly from the Weekly Miscellany, [Philip] Miller: The Gardener's Dictionary . . ., and Ra[lph] Austen: A Treatise of Fruit Trees . . . ; (continued)
239-46, extracts ? from letters of L[ewis] Morris and a commonplace book of R[obert] Vaughan of Hengwrt relating to matters of Welsh etymological, bardic, and antiquarian interest, with comments, sometimes severely critical of the opinions expressed by Morris and Vaughan, added presumably by Edward Williams ('ignorance . . . inconsistency … willful lies, a complete triad of Lewis Morris' grand accomplishments', 'the abominable falshoods of Robert Vaughan'); 247 + 250, transcripts of 'englynion' attributed to Jenkin Richards and a note on Richards's religious attitudes (written on the blank margins, etc., of an incomplete copy of printed proposals, 1792, by [Sir] Herbert Croft for publishing a new edition of Dr . [Samuel] Johnson's Dictionary); 251-66, miscellaneous items including a list of the 'Names of Constellations in Wales', two notes relating to the bard Iolo [Goch], a note on a volume containing prophesies by various bards 'collected by Mr. Ellis Wynne of Las Ynys', ? an extract from a letter from W[illia]m Wynne to L[ewis] Mor[ris] relating to an ode by Goronwy [Owen] and his use of the 'Cadwyn fyr' measure, an extract from a letter from Edw[ar]d Llwyd to Robert Davies at Llannerch [co. Flint] referring to glass beads which may have been 'Roman or referable to our glain Neidr', an extract from a letter from R[ober]t Vaughan of Hengwrt to Archbishop Usher relating to the different yokes used in yoking oxen in Wales, a critical comment ? by Edward Williams on the opinions of Lewis Morris and [Robert] Vaughan of Hengwrt with regard to the story of Brutus, a brief note on 'The Cantref Breiniol' and the 'saith cantref' of Morganwg, an extract from a letter on the subject of freemasonry published in the Gentleman's Magazine, September 1794, lists of 'Y chwebeth a wnaeth i'r Brytaniaid golli anrhydedd ei Pendefigaeth', 'Meibion Cynfarch', 'Rhyfeddodau Ynys Prydain', 'Geiriau Gwir Taliesin', and 'Deuddeg pwnc cas gan Grist . . .', versions of the Lord's Prayer in Welsh, transcripts of four 'englynion' attributed to Huw Caerog, Huw Llyn, Hugh Pennant, and Wiliam Cynwal, and headed 'Englynion Eisteddfod Caerwys', extracts from various Welsh poems, etc.; 267-78, a fourteen point 'Outline of a Plan for a Complete and Superb History of the County of Glamorgan Sketched by Edward Williams, 1806'; 293 + 296, a memorandum of a proclamation, 1795, of a bardic meeting to be held at Pen Bryn Owain, co. Glamorgan, in 1796; 294-5, notes on Hywel Siôn of Brofeisgyn [co. Glamorgan] (2nd half 17th cent.) and 'Yr Hen Saphin' of Pen y bont ar Ogwr [co. Glamorgan] (? early 18th cent.), to both of whom many proverbial or popular sayings were attributed, and comments on the use of proverbs by the Welsh (? part of an introduction to a proposed collection of Welsh proverbs); 301-08, a copy of the introduction, the letter to the reader, and the notes on Arthur and his knights to be found at the beginning of Lewys Dwnn's volume of pedigrees of the families of cos. Carmarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan (see S. R. Meyrick (ed.): Heraldic Visitations of Wales . . . by Lewys Dwnn . . . (Llandovery, 1846), pp. 7-10); and 309, a list of 'Grammars in the possession of E. Williams' (? 'Iolo Morganwg').

Title based on contents.

Formerly known as Llanover C. 16.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 13103B.

The description is also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971)

Published