The Red Book of Talgarth,

This manuscript is apparently in the same hand as large portions of the Red Book of Hergest and Peniarth MS 32. The contents, with few exceptions, are manifestly taken from Jesus College MS 2 and Peniarth MS 5. Pp. i-vi belong to the fifteenth century and contain pedigrees (p. i) which are somewhat difficult to decipher; triads (p. ii); and poetry by Dafydd ap Gwilym and Ieuan Dew Brydydd (p. iv-vi).
The twenty folios which are missing between ff. 20b and 21 now form part of Peniarth MS 12, pp. 77-116. For f. 26 (Y llyvyr hwnn yw y trydydd llyvyr or llyvyr aelwir Kyssegyrlan Vuched ...) see Llyvyr Agkyr Llandewivrevi, pp. 86-103; for f. 41b (Dangos pa delw ydyewir y tat ar mab ar yspryt glan ...) see ibid., pp. 162-3; for f. 42 (Mal hynn y digawn ytat ar mab ar yspryt glan ...) see ibid., p. 138-40; for f. 43b (Dangos y mod y dylyo dyn gredu ...) see ibid., pp. 141-4; for f. 46 (Llyma seith rinwed yr eglwys) see ibid., pp. 145-6; for f. 47 (Valhyn ydyweit hu sant o wedi y pader) see ibid., pp. 147-51, l. 3; for f. 52 (Breudwyt bawl) see ibid., p. 152-6; for f. 54b (Llyma ebostyl y sul) see ibid., pp. 157-9, l. 6; for f. 56 (Rinwedeu offeren sul) see ibid., p. 151; for f. 56b (Ypotis weithon y gelwir hwnn) see ibid., pp. 128-37; for f. 62b (Valhyn y treythir o ach dewi ...) see ibid., pp. 105-18; for f. 71b (Dywededic vu hyt hynn o vuched dewi sant ...) see ibid., pp. 119-27. The text at f. 80 (Historia de Adamo morituro et de Seth in paradiso ...) is the same as that in Peniarth MS 32, p. 239 (cf. Bodley MS Laud Misc. 471, f. 66). The Welsh text at f. 84b corresponds with chapters I-XLI of B. Harris Cowper's edition of The Apocryphal Gospels, pp. 29-82.For f. 125 (Ystorya titus aspassianus) see Peniarth MS 5, f. 36; for f. 129b (Llyma ual ytreythir o ystorya pilatus ...) see ibid., f. 10; for f. 131 (The end ... of the Life of St Catherine) see ibid., f. 21; for f. 132 (Buched meir vadlen) and for f. 135b (Llyma weithyon vuched martha) see ibid., f. 26; for f. 137 (Purdan padric ...) see ibid., f. 58, but with verbal differences throughout. At f. 160 (Athrawon agawssant y geluydyt honn ...) note that in the older MSS the month Rhagfyr (December) comes before Tachwedd (November). For f. 160b (Argoelon y vlwydyn ...) cf. Peniarth MS 12, p. 124; for f. 163 (Dy gygor ath gyssul yw ...) see ibid., p. 125. For f. 164b (Llyma ual y treythir o gynghoreu catwn ...) cf. Peniarth MS 3, p. 31 and 27, ii (pp. 16-20). For f. 172b see Peniarth MS 14, pp. 1-20, omitting items under pp. 6, 7, 14; there are slight verbal differences in the text and a tendency to insert passages about the 'Catholic faith' and the 'virgin mother'. The end of the manuscript is missing: the final words are 'Lleidyr oed gynt . ae enw ebbo ... tebygu na ladyssei y magyl arnaw . yn y lle nessau attaw aorugant ar uedyr'. A letter dated at Talgarth on 19 September 1719 and addressed to 'the Rev. Moses Williams att Dyfynnog in Breconshire' is bound in at the end of the manuscript.

Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.

Formerly Shirburn MS E. 58.

Preferred citation: Llanstephan MS 27 [RESTRICTED ACCESS].

J. Gwenogvryn Evans, Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, vol. II, part II (London, 1903), pp. 455-462.

Available on microfilm at the Library.
Online version available on the Library's website http://digidol.llgc.org.uk/METS/DAF00024/frames (viewed February 2011).

Usual copyright laws apply.

The signature of John Powell occurs on p. v (see also Peniarth MSS 41 and 45); the inscription 'Liber Moses Williams ex dono J. Powell de Talgarth 1719' occurs on f. 1.

Published